Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha PANZER
by AonoHaruAkashiya
Summary: Miyu Mayuzumi is a girl with a heart of gold and a fist of steel. When her father becomes the victim of an incident involving a Lost Logia and when her childhood friend goes missing, Miyu sets out on a journey filled with events that will test every ounce of faith in herself, her friends, and her abilities as a mage. Will she come out on top? Or will she be left behind in the dust?
1. Chapter 1 - The First Decisive Battle!

**Prologue**

_Mid-Childa is a world home to a technologically advanced civilization where several of its residents are trained in the arts of magic. People trained in the arts of magic are known as mages. This planet is where the main office of the Time-Space Administration Bureau(TSAB) is located. The TSAB is an interdimensional security force formed from a union of several planets. One day, two members of the TSAB, Shiro Mayuzumi and Tsugumi Kirisaki gave birth to little girl named Miyu. From a very young age, Miyu had an immediate interest in her parents' profession and about magic in general. Miyu was homeschooled in the arts of magic after she first learned how to read. This trend continued until her ninth birthday, when she was given her very own Device. Devices are tools used by mages to assist them in casting spells. Miyu's device was created by her mother, since her mother was a Device Meister, or someone that specializes in creating Devices. Miyu's Device was named Panzerglaive and it was a Modern Belkan type. Since neither of her parents had knowledge of the use of ranged magic, Miyu's device was specifically made for close combat. Miyu's father trained her in the ways of melee combat for one more year. After that, Miyu was enrolled in St. Hilde Academy of Magic as a fourth year in Elementary School. Throughout her first few years at St. Hilde, she learned how to use mid-ranged attacks. Her mother upgraded her Device to become a hybrid of a Mid-Childan type and Modern Belkan type. Now that she has finished Middle School, her next goal… is to join the TSAB..._

* * *

**July 17th**

**TSAB Ground Forces Assessment Area**

**2:00PM**

**Mid-Childa**

"Alright. You've managed to pass all of your mage tests so far with flying colors. Are you ready for your B to A test?" the voice of a female figure presented on a screen floating in front of a teenage girl was heard.

"Yeah." the girl replied with a nod. This girl was Miyu Mayuzumi, the girl with a heart so bright that it could rival the sun's light. A few weeks after she graduated from St. Hilde's Middle School, her parents recommended her to their superiors to see if she could join the TSAB. It didn't take long for her to get accepted and Miyu was quickly sent off to get registered. Even though she did not attend the Fourth Ground Forces Academy like most other mages, she was still allowed to join the Ground Forces like normal. After everything was sorted out with getting her registered in the TSAB's databases, her first mage ranking test began. She passed the F, E, D, C, and B tests, but she felt like she could do more. It was now time for her to do something that not many mages could do: attempt to become an A rank. Letting out a soft sigh, she gripped the device that hung as a necklace around her neck and gave it a tight squeeze. "Sentinel… Set up."

"Yes sir." the device flashed red as its robotic, masculine voice was heard. It was a common function among devices that they could speak to their masters. A red light briefly covered Miyu's body as her normal hoodie and black shorts she was wearing was replaced with her barrier jacket, which consisted of a short sleeved, half red and white shirt with the colors divided vertically, a belt with a skirt-like armor that has the same color scheme as her shirt, black leggings that are in the form of shorts that go up to just above her knees, black shoes with ridges wrapping around the lower part of her legs near her ankles with red gems embedded in them,. and midnight colored fingerless gloves. Her Device changed into a burgundy colored metal glove that resided on her left hand.

"Alright. Come to the center of the testing area to find out what your task is." With that said, the screen disappeared and Miyu let out a soft sigh.

"I'd better get going." Putting on a serious expression, she jogged through the magically generated area until she reached the center. There, she found the same woman who was speaking to her earlier waiting there in her barrier jacket.

"Great. You're here. Now… Your test is to…" the woman paused as her Device, a staff-like object, formed in her hand. "To go against me, Nanoha Takamachi. If you manage to deal a bit of damage, you'll pass."

Miyu went wide-eyed for a moment. "Y-You're Nanoha? But… aren't you S rank or something?" she asked quietly.

"Don't worry. I have a limiter that brings me down to AA rank. You have nothing to worry about." Nanoha said with a smile.

"If you say so…" Miyu stated as she shifted into a combat stance.

* * *

**2:10PM**

**Center of Assessment Area**

"Alright then. So if you're ready-!" Nanoha flew up into the air and fired off a magical shot at Miyu.

'_She's an aerial mage… this is going to be tough.' _Miyu thought to herself as she quickly moved off to the side and ran into a building to the left. She ran up a flight of stairs as her device changed into its second form, which was the shape of a small crossbow attached to the back of her hand. '_My Mid-Ranged attacks are probably my best bet right now.' _ Heading to the top floor of the building, she looked down to find Nanoha looking directly up at her.

"Found you." Nanoha said as she fired off another shot at her.

"Motorized Aura." Miyu whispered as a few clusters of red, magical hexagons started floating around her body. One of the clusters blocked the shot and disappeared after contact. Holding out her hand, Miyu took a deep breath. "Padlock." she stated as four red nut shaped binds, similar in appearance to the nuts used for building things, appeared around Nanoha's arms and legs, keeping her in place in the air. Miyu then pointed her device arm at Nanoha as she converted mana into wind energy and gathered it inside of Panzerglaive. "Crushing Whirlwind!" she called out as she released the energy in the form of a pressurized ball of air, sending it streaking towards Nanoha. Nanoha broke free from the binds at the last second by using a technique called Bind Break and used Flash Move, a movement-type spell, to get behind Miyu at extremely fast speeds.

"I'm not going down that easily!" Nanoha called out as she swung Raising Heart in a downward arc towards Miyu. Miyu quickly spun around and blocked it with Panzerglaive. Nanoha quickly jumped back a few feet in the air and pointed her Device at Miyu. "Axel Shooter." Raising Heart stated as pink orbs appeared in the air around Nanoha. "Shoot!" Nanoha commanded as the spheres were sent flying towards Miyu.

"Omni Bullet." Panzerglaive announced as red orbs appeared around Miyu. "Fire." she quickly mumbled as she moved her index finger of her Device hand like she was pulling a trigger of a weapon, sending the orbs flying towards Nanoha's. Both attacks collided, causing an explosion that sent a cloud of smoke up that covered the area between them. Miyu took the opportunity to rush forward. Turning Panzerglaive back into its Panzer form, she ran right towards Nanoha with her fist cocked back. Nanoha saw her burst through the smoke and aimed Raising Heart at Miyu' charging up an attack. Miyu quickly activated her Monsoon Drive spell, briefly increasing her speed to higher levels. This allowed her to get in close to Nanoha quicker than she expected. "Battler Flash!" Miyu yelled out as she delivered a powerful uppercut, making Nanoha fly into the air.

"That caught me off guard. Good job." Nanoha said with a smile as she pointed Raising Heart at Miyu again. "Short Buster," Raising Heart said as a long burst of energy was fired at Miyu. Miyu quickly covered Panzerglaive in a barrier and swung her fist at the attack, blocking it with the punch. "Oh? That's an interesting technique." Nanoha acknowleged.

Miyu smirked as her device flashed red. "Battler Cremator!" she called out, a shockwave being sent through Nanoha's attack, knocking her back slightly. Stepping forward, Miyu broke out into a sprint before springing into the air and flying towards Nanoha with a flying jump kick. Nanoha quickly blocked it with a Protection barrier. Miyu flipped off of the shield and a magic circle appeared under her feet once she touched the building's rooftop. She activated another one of her movement spells, Velocity Blazer, which launched her forward as quickly as Nanoha's Flash Move. "Accelerated Crashing!" she shouted as she connected a hard stomach punch. This made Nanoha stagger back a little.

"You really pack a punch…" Nanoha mumbled as she used a binding spell, causing pink rings to hold Miyu in place. She moved forward with Flash Move while focusing mana at Raising Heart's tip.

"Sentinel Defenser." Panzerglaive stated as a forcefield made of hexagons appeared around Miyu. Nanoha hit the forcefield with Raising Heart, an explosion occurring as the result. Nanoha flew back into the air a few feet.

"Thanks Sentinel…" Miyu mumbled to her device, calling it by its nickname.

"Protection is a priority." it replied.

Smiling slightly, Miyu jumped off of the side of the building, turning Panzerglaive back into its Discharge form. Red energy appeared at its tip. "Cluster Cannon!" she called out as she fired the energy into the air above Nanoha. It exploded into smaller orbs of energy that fell around Nanoha, detonating around her. Miyu used Velocity Blazer to launch herself into the building again while the smoke cleared.

Raising Heart raised a force field around Nanoha when the detonation happened. When the smoke cleared, she looked around left and right for Miyu. "Eh? Where'd she go…" She floated over to the side of the building and looked over at the building across from them.

Miyu ran up the fight of stairs to the roof again, letting Panzerglaive load magic-filled cartridges into itself. Bursting through the threshold, she skidded into a crouching position and used magic to create a tornado around Nanoha. "Gale Cyclone! Blow her away!" Nanoha, caught off guard, gasped as the tornado tore Raising Heart from her hands and carried it off.

"Raising Heart!" Nanoha called out as she tried to grab it again. Using the small window of opportunity she created, Miyu pointed Panzerglaive at Nanoha's back.

"Aero Torpedo!" she shouted as a green oval-shaped energy bullet streaked towards Nanoha. Nanoha tried to throw up a shield quickly, but the bullet hit her and exploded on impact, knocking her across to the roof of the other building. She landed hard on her back and slid for a couple of feet. Miyu jogged over to the side of her building and peeked over at Nanoha. Raising Heart clattered to the ground a few meters next to Nanoha. After a few seconds, Nanoha got to her feet and smiled at Miyu.

"Well then Miyu… I think we should end this battle off here. You've passed." she announced with a grin. Miyu smiled widely as Nanoha flew back over to her.

"I-I did? Yay…" she sighed with relief. "I wasn't sure if I could've lasted any longer… it's hard for me to fight aerial mages."

"I can understand that. But you have ways to cover your weaknesses right? You know how to use tactics and your environment to your advantage. You didn't hesitate to take advantage of every opportunity that came up. You have some pretty strong defensive spells too… You and Panzerglaive are tough like steel."

"T-Thank you very much." Miyu bowed politely. "I didn't want to fail… so I went all out." she stated, smiling slightly. "I'm famous around St. Hilde becaus of my defenses… They call me the Iron Princess because they're so tough."

"It really suits you!" Nanoha said happily, "Anyways. Congratulations. You are now officially an A rank! I'm sure your parents will be proud. You're dismissed."

"Thank you again…" Miyu smiled as she bowed again, heading down to ground level and started heading to the train station, deactivating her barrier jacket and un-deploying her device. It was really a happy moment for her. She couldn't wait to get home so she could contact her best friend that she met as a child and tell him about her achievement. He joined the TSAB the previous year and she guessed that he would be happy to know that they might be working side-by-side soon since he was in the Ground Forces as well. _"Ethan… He's going to be so excited! I...finally… did it!" _


	2. Chapter 2 - Ethan Colbert

**July 17th**

**3:07PM**

**Central Mid-Childa**

**Cranagan**

**Mayuzumi Residence**

The ride home from northern Mid-Childa was a relaxing one for Miyu. She was able to relax and release all tension from her exam. Now that she actually passed, she had no reason to feel nervous anymore. She'd used everything in her arsenal that she could and it led her to victory. After she got into her house, she went right up to her room and laid down on her bed. Letting out a soft sigh, she contacted Ethan. "Ethan!"

Ethan jumped slightly at the sudden appearance of a screen displaying Miyu's face in front of him. He was currently headed home from a trip to the grocery store. "O-Oh… Hey Miyu… This is sudden. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry." Miyu said with a giggle. "Anyways! I have great news!"

"And what's that?" Ethan asked, stopping in front of his house as he unlocked the front door.

"I joined the Ground Forces recently and I just passed another ranking exam! I'm A rank now!" she stated happily, rolling over onto her back.

"Seriously? Wow… You're amazing Miyu…" Ethan said with a shocked expression on his face.

"You and Cryohunter are amazing too! You're really good at swordplay and you also have Cryohunter's Shackle form with those awesome chain blades and you can fly!" she replied.

"You think so? But I'm only a C rank…"

"Well, that's because you haven't tried to take any more ranking tests! You just stopped at C and you haven't tried to rank up since." Miyu stated, giving her friend a playfully angry look. "You should try to!"

"I'm fine where I am-" Ethan started, but he was cut off a second later.

"Don't you want to be a strong knight so you can show just how powerful Ethan Colbert can be? Seriously… When we were kids all you talked about was being the strongest knight that you could be."

"I know…" Ethan said with a sigh. "But ever since I got asked to train privately with Signum and Vita, I've been feeling kind of down about myself."

"You train with Signum and Vita privately? When did this happen?!" Miyu asked as she went wide-eyed.

"A few months ago…" Ethan mumbled as he began putting the groceries away.

"Do you have trouble keeping up with them or something?" Miyu questioned, sitting up on her bed.

"Oh no. I can keep up just fine. It's just…" his voice trailed off.

"Just what?" Miyu tilted her head to the side with a curious expression on her face.

"It's just… why me? I mean… I was raised by the Church for the most of my life and now I'm here… with this house all to myself and I'm being trained by those two combat geniuses."

"Ethan… you have no idea how privileged you are. I would love to be able to do as much as you do. There's obviously something special about you if you were ASKED to train with those two." Miyu muttered quietly.

"I guess…" Ethan stretched out his back after he finished putting away all of his groceries. "I actually have to head out to another training session in a few minutes so we can't talk much longer."

"Alright…" Miyu let out a soft sigh and slid off of her bed. "I'm going to go ahead and go to the Ground Forces HQ to see if I have anything to do yet."

"So you're heading to the TSAB Main Office…" Ethan articulated.

"Basically… but the Ground Forces HQ is there too so I'm going to that specific part." Miyu replied, walking over to her closet and pulling out her Ground Forces uniform.

"Okay." Ethan nodded. "Hey, we should meet up and hang out sometime this week. When are you free?"

"Err…" Miyu thought for a few seconds and then she shrugged. "I dunno… maybe Saturday? Depends on if I actually get a mission or not…"

"Alright. We'll just have to wait and see what happens then." Ethan replied with a small smile on his lips.

"Mhm." Miyu nodded as she closed her closet doors. "I'll talk to you later. I gotta change." After saying goodbye, Miyu terminated the connection and changed into her Ground Forces uniform, which was mostly medium brown, with dark brown shoulders. She took a quick glance at herself in the mirror on her wall before heading out of the house again.

**3:59PM**

**Central Mid-Childa**

**Cranagan**

**TSAB Main Office**

**TSAB Ground Forces HQ**

The walk to the Main Office only took a few minutes for Miyu. Her family didn't live that far from the building, so it was only a few blocks away. Once inside the building, she headed to the section used by the Ground Forces. As she was turning a corner, she spotted her father headed down the hallway in her direction. "Dad? What are you doing here? I thought you worked in the Dimensional Navy."

"Well hello to you too Miyu." he smiled down at his daughter as he stopped in front of her. "And I do. I'm just here because of a case I'm dealing with."

"Ooohh~ What's it about?" Miyu asked with a spark of curiosity in her eyes.

"Mages around Mid-Childa are being attacked by a mysterious intruder and are left in a critical state after with their magical energy drained."

"So… someone's siphoning energy from the mages' Linker Cores? That sounds similar to that Book of Darkness incident that went on a few years ago…"

"Well, this time its been confirmed that its a lone person doing this. This case has been going on for a few days now, but we have no major leads yet… All we know is that the attacker is a woman, but no one has been able to describe how she looks."

"Hmm…" Miyu looked off to the side in thought then returned her gaze to her father. "Do you think a Lost Logia is involved?"

"It's a possibility, but we won't know for sure for awhile. I was here to see if anyone happened to see any suspicious activity going on around. I have nothing yet." her father said tiredly.

"I see…" Miyu mumbled, stepping closer to her father and giving him a quick hug. "Oh! Did you know that I passed my A rank test today?" she smiled up at him.

"Really? That's excellent. Look at you… My little girl's becoming something great. You're getting closer and closer to becoming an Enforcer like me." Mr. Mayuzumi stated with a bright smile.

"Yeah I am! I'll make you an Mom proud by becoming one of the best mages the TSAB has ever seen!" Miyu said confidently, stepping away from her father and putting her hands behind her back.

"Seeing your bright smile and your display of determination is always a sight for sore eyes and a spirit lifter, but I think its about time that I get back to the TSAB Headquarters. I'll see you later today at dinner." Miyu's father gently kissed her on the forehead and continued down the hallway until he disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah, see you later!" Miyu waved after him and turned back towards the direction she was originally walking in. "Alright. Time to go and see if it's time for me to get my first mission." With that said, Miyu jogged down the hallway and entered the main area of the Ground Forces HQ.


	3. Chapter 3 - Approaching Danger

**July 17th**

**10:37PM**

**Central Mid-Childa**

**Cranagan**

**Mayuzumi Residence**

Miyu returned home after spending a few hours at the Ground Forces HQ. Unfortunately, she hadn't received a mission yet so she was free until further notice. Entering her room, she changed out of her Ground Forces uniform and debated if she should wash it or not for a few seconds. Miyu eventually decided against it and hung it up in her closet again. Afterwards, she laid down on her bed and pulled Panzerglaive off of her neck.

"Panzerglaive… I'm wondering why mom and dad aren't home yet… It's almost 11PM." Miyu said to her Device with a worried tone of voice.

"Do not worry. I am sure they will be home soon." Panzerglaive replied.

"If you say so…" Miyu sighed softly. Rolling over onto her stomach she buried her face in her pillow and exhaled deeply. She was trying to ignore how hungry she was. Truthfully, she had no idea of how to cook anything at all. For her entire life since her childhood, all she focused on was combat training. She only wanted to get better and better at combat. After a few minutes, Miyu heard the front door open and she immediately sat straight up in bed. Quickly exiting the room, she flew downstairs and came face to face with her mother. Miyu had a bright smile on her face, but her mother did not. This immediately caused Miyu's expression to change to one of concern. "Mom? What's wrong?" Miyu noticed that her mother's face was stained with tears. "Mom..?"

"Miyu..!" Miyu's mother unexpectedly threw her arms around Miyu and started weeping heavily. Miyu gently rubbed her mother's back and let out a quiet sigh. "Let's get you to the couch…" Helping her mother over to the small black couch in the living room, Miyu held onto her mother's hands and wiped her tears away. "Mom… tell me what happened."

"Your father… he was-" her mother cut herself off, choked up on her own words.

"Was what..?" Miyu took a few seconds to think. "Don't tell me… was he..?" she gazed intensely into her mother's eyes.

"I got a call telling me to go to Cranagan's Medical Center and that it was urgent… so I hurried over there as quickly as I could…" Miyu's mother took a moment to calm her breathing. "A-And… your father was there and he was seriously injured… The doctors said that he was dangerously close to death…"

Miyu tsked to herself and stood up quickly, turning to where her back was facing her mother. "Today I saw dad at the Ground Forces HQ and he told me that he was working on a case about mages being attacked by a mysterious woman that injures them to life-threatening points and robs them of the majority of their Linker Core energy…" Clenching her fists and turned back towards her mother. "Dad's become a victim of it…"

Hearing those words caused her mother to burst into another crying fit. Miyu immediately moved over to her and hugged her mother tightly.

"That person is horrible… Shiro never did anything to deserve that! So why was he attacked..?!" her mother asked shakily.

"I don't know… but… mom! I'm going to the TSAB headquarters right now!" Miyu let go of her mother and started running towards the door, but Tsugumi quickly latched onto her arm.

"No! I don't want you to get hurt too… that maniac is still out there!" her mother begged.

"I'm sorry… but I have to go! I have an idea…" Miyu replied, looking back at her mother with a soft gaze.

"No… Miyu… I'm your mother… Listen to me! I… I forbid you to leave this house right now…" her mother countered.

Miyu tugged her arm away and shook her head. "I'm sorry mom… but I'm going to have to ignore your orders for once. I have to go… Don't worry about me! I have Panzerglaive and I'm an A rank now! I survived in a match against Nanoha Takamachi… the Ace of Aces herself! So have faith in me… I'll be fine." Tsugumi immediately went quiet and wiped her eyes.

"Right… My little girl is growing up… You're a part of the TSAB now… so of course dangerous situations are expected… But I'll have faith in you. Getting A rank is an exceptional achievement in itself…" her mother's voice trailed off as she sniffed. "Alright… I'll trust you just this once. Promise me you'll come back here okay?"

"I promise." Miyu nodded confidently.

"Then go… quickly." Tsugumi replied.

Miyu gave another nod before running towards the front door. Tsugumi called out to her again before she could open the door. "Wait!"

Glancing back over her shoulder, Miyu looked back towards her mother. "What?"

"At least… let me transport you… It'll be faster." Tsugumi stated with a thin, faded smile. Miyu headed back over to her mother and closed her eyes.

"Alright…"

A Mid-Childan magic circle appeared under Tsugumi as she took a deep breath. "Long Distance Transfer." she muttered quietly. Miyu gave a small smile as her form disappeared into thin air. All her mother could do was smile back. "Good luck… my dear daughter…"

**10:52PM**

**Dimensional Space**

**TSAB Headquarters**

The next time that Miyu opened her eyes, she found herself in the massive space station known as the TSAB headquarters. Looking around, she slowly began heading down the corridor she had appeared in. "Who was dad's commanding officer again? It was F something… Faith… Faye… something like that…" she mumbled to herself as she wandered. She eventually bumped into a blonde haired woman coming out of a room to her right. "Ah-"

"Hm? You're an new face around here." the blonde woman noted.

"Yeah… I'm Shiro Mayuzumi's daughter. I'm Miyu Mayuzumi." Miyu replied, looking up at her.

"Oh? So you're the girl that Shiro always talks about? I can see the resemblance. Also… I heard that you managed to last in a match against Nanoha and get A rank? Good job!" the woman smiled.

"Y-Yeah…" Miyu nodded, going quiet for a few seconds. "Wait… how did you know that I went against her today?"

"Nanoha is my best friend." the woman stated.. "She tells me everything."

"I see… Anyways! I'm looking for someone… my dad's commanding officer. I think her name was Faith… or Faye… something with F!"

"I think you are talking about Fate."

"Yeah! Fate! That's the name. Where can I find her?" Miyu questioned.

"You're looking at her."

"Eh? So you're Fate?" Miyu went wide eyed.

"Yes." Fate nodded, giggling slightly.

"Oh…" Miyu's cheeks became slightly tinted with red from embarrassment. "I can't believe I forgot your name.. even though my dad mentioned it so many times…"

"It's fine. My full name is Fate T. Harlaown. The T stands for Testarossa." Fate replied with a smile.

"Harlaown… That's the last name that my friend from school has…" Miyu muttered, "But that's besides the point! Officer Fate! I'm here because I have a request!"

"And that request is?" Fate asked curiously.

"I'd like to take my dad's place in the incident he is working on!" Miyu spoke, the determination evident in her voice.

"You're only a new recruit in the TSAB… I'm not sure you can handle this level of work." Fate replied calmly.

"But still… This is my dad we're talking about… He taught me everything that he knows. I can handle these sort of things… Panzerglaive and I are strong! We don't go down easily!" Miyu urged. She really wanted to continue her father's work.

"I can tell that you have a lot of resolve… that's a good thing." Fate thought for a few seconds before the smile returned to her face. "Alright. I'll let you help… since Shiro was a very valuable part of this operation. If what you say is true… then his daughter is the next best thing. Tell me Miyu… do you know what Lost Logia are?" she asked.

"Yes." Miyu replied with a nod.

"We've recently discovered that a Lost Logia is involved in this incident thanks to your father's hard work. It is an item called the Gear of Judgement. It is a Lost Logia that casts its judgement upon a person if given the order to by its master. The "trial" determines if the person has what it depicts as "True Strength" or not. If the test is positive, the Gear of Judgement will give a tremendous power boost to that person… if it is negative, it generates a magical spear called Gungnir that will impale the prosecuted person and sap them of their magical energy… The power boost that it gives to the positive person depends on how many negatives it sapped power from before…"

"That sounds really dangerous and risky… Why would someone make that kind of thing?" Miyu asked, horrified.

"The thirst for power probably." Fate replied, sighing lightly. "Anyways… if you're prepared to work, then I'd like you to get started right away."

"Yes ma'am." Miyu nodded, giving Fate a salute.

"And I wish you good luck." Fate added.

"I'll need it…" Miyu smiled weakly. With that said, Fate waved to Miyu and headed off to do other things. Letting out a soft sigh, Miyu leaned against the wall and crossed her arms across her chest. "For some reason I feel like I got myself into one of the biggest messes ever… but if it's for my family's well being, then I'll go through anything to protect them…"


	4. Chapter 4 - Encounters

_**This chapter is where the crossover between my fanfic and my friend GodEaterBurstFan's new fanfic starts. It's my longest one so far and we worked very hard on it. This is basically the prologue and first chapter of it combined into one chapter with an added twist at the end, but in the PoV of my main character. Enjoy!**_

* * *

**July 20**

**The path to St. Hilde Magic Academy**

**Cranagan**

**8:00 AM**

A few days after negotiating with Fate, Miyu was ready for her first day of high school. She took the train like always, and walked the rest of the way to the school on foot. Letting out a small yawn, she ran her hands through her hair and sighed softly. "I am so unprepared for this today…"

"Hey, Mizu!"

Miyu looked back over her shoulder to see a green haired girl dressed in the St. Hilde High School uniform running up towards her.

"Ayase! My name is Miyu, not Mizu! Geez..." Miyu replied with a pout as she continued walking forward. About a second later, Ayase was right next to her.

"Well. I am sorry, /Miyu/." Ayase answered with a playful tone.. "By the way, did you receive your class assignment yet?" Ayase asked calmly as she started playing with the hood on Miyu's hoodie.

"I actually haven't been here for a couple of days. Major TSAB stuff... so no." Miyu replied, shaking her head.

"I see. Luckily for you, my Aunt Vivio got a copy of your class assignment. Looks like you and I are going to be classmates again." Ayase replied, handing Miyu a folded piece of paper. Miyu took the piece of paper and gave a small nod

"Tell her thanks for me," Miyu replied. Looking downward, she quickly read over what was on the paper. Once Miyu finished, she glanced up at Ayase, who was looking around.

"Hm?" Miyu questioned. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. One of my so called "suitors" is nearby. So, let's hurry up and get to school." Ayase answered a few seconds later, starting to pick up the pace slightly.

"Alright." Miyu nodded, wondering if the situation was dangerous or not. After a few minutes, Miyu and Ayase reached the entrance to the St. Hilde Magic Academy High School Building.

"Speaking of the TSAB, what branch have you decided to join?" Ayase asked curiously as she checked her watch. They directed themselves over to a set of benches and sat down.

"I'm a part of the Ground Forces at the moment... but I aim to be an Enforcer in the future like my dad!" Miyu stated in a serious tone, her determination showing in her eyes.

"Congratulations! As for me, if I were to join the TSAB, I would join the Air Force. That is the only branch where I could be as free as the wind." Ayase answered with a slight smile on her face.

"I'm wondering... do you know how to fly? Aerial mages are pretty hard for me to deal with since I'm a mostly a close combat type mage." Miyu asked curiously.

"Actually, I do know how to fly." Ayase answered calmly after a few moments of thinking.

"I wish I could fly... Or at least have some spell that'll help me do it. It would be nice…" Miyu briefly glanced down at Panzerglaive, which was in its undeployed necklace form around her neck.

"If you want, I can teach you a skill that mimics flying to a certain extent." Ayase stated, placing her hand on Miyu's shoulder

"Levitation?" Miyu asked, tilting her head to the side. Ayase giggled slightly before looking at Miyu.

"Not really. It's much better than Levitation. Maybe, I'll show you during lunch." Ayase answered calmly after she finished her giggling fit.

"I can't wait." Miyu replied with a big smile on her face. Ayase smiled slightly before thinking quietly.

"You should start slow when you practice the skill. I kind of overdid it and ended up spraining my ankle." Ayase warned as she looked at Miyu.

"I'll make sure to do that. " Miyu acknowledged the warning, then she stood up and stretched. "So, when does school start?" she asked, and Ayase quickly checked her watch.

"We got 30 minutes, Miyu. Let's head to the classroom and get some of the better seats" she answered as she got up as well.

"Alright." Miyu smiled and nodded. The two entered the high school building and went right to Classroom 2A. They both took seats in the front of the class. There were only a few other students in the room, all off in groups conversing with each other. Miyu and Ayase talked for awhile before a teacher who was wearing Archeologists clothes entered the class with some books in his arms. Miyu turned her attention to the teacher immediately and fell silent.

"Good morning, everyone." The teacher called out with a cheerful voice. The teacher ordered the class to sit down before introducing himself as Dr. Crusoe, the head of TSAB's Archeology office. He quickly went through all the formalities and got onto teaching a lesson on ancient magic civilizations. Dr. Crusoe opened a textbook before writing the word Sylphia on the board. He then turned around and asked the class a question.

"Have you guys heard about the planet of Sylphia?" he asked with a smile on his face. The class was dead silent except for a few whispers here and there. Dr. Crusoe took the silence as a "no" and began explaining to the class about the planet of Sylphia. "The planet of Sylphia is a long lost planet which existed before the time of the Ancient Belkan Empire. The cause of the planet's disappearance is unknown but we do know that its civilization has an extremely high affinity for wind magic." The teacher explained before pinning a picture on the board. The picture has a dark emerald insignia which consisted of a leaf which was surrounded by a spiral of wind.

"Excuse me, sir. Can I ask what are we seeing in that picture?" A male student asked, raising his hand. Dr. Crusoe thanked the student for asking the question before explaining the picture to the class.

"That… is the insignia of the planet of Sylphia. It is said that the modern day descendants of the Sylphian civilization have that insignia as a birthmark. There is a rumor going around that a descendant of the Sylphian civilization is currently in this room." Dr. Crusoe explained calmly while pacing back and forth in the front of the classroom. Miyu glanced over at Ayase after a few seconds and saw that she looked pale.

"Ayase? Are you okay?" she whispered with a concerned look on her face. Ayase didn't get a chance to answer before Dr. Crusoe walked over to her. He took a quick look at Ayase's face and noticed how badly she was sweating.

"Are you alright, Miss Harlaown? You look a little pale in the face. If you are feeling sick, I suggest that you head over to the infirmary." Dr. Crusoe suggested. Ayase nodded her head as she slowly got up and headed towards the door. Dr. Crusoe then turned his attention to Miyu.

"Excuse me, Miss Mayuzumi. Can you take Miss Harlaown to the Infirmary?" Dr. Crusoe requested as Ayase slowly walked towards the classroom door.

"Yes sir." Miyu replied as she quickly got to her feet and hurried after Ayase. Ayase allowed Miyu to help her towards the Infirmary. After a few minutes, both Ayase and Miyu made it to the Infirmary where the nurse quickly checked Ayase over. Afterwards, the nurse told Ayase lie down on the bed to rest.

"Your friend will be all right. She just needs some rest. You can sit in the chair next to the bed if you want. I'll call your teacher to him that Ayase will be back just before the final lesson ends." The nurse explained as she left the room, leaving the two girls alone.

"That's good to know..." Miyu mumbled quietly. She slipped into the chair next to the bed with her gaze focused on Ayase. Miyu was quiet for a few moments before she finally spoke up. "Hey... What happened back there, if you don't mind telling me?" Miyu asked in a concerned tone. Ayase looked down towards the floor before letting out a sigh. She turned her gaze to Miyu after a few seconds. Clearing her throat, she began to speak.

"Rather than telling you, I'd rather show you. I think you deserve to know since you are my closest friend." Ayase answered before quietly taking off her dark green blazer. She then started slowly unbuttoning her dress shirt. Sliding her left arm out of the sleeve of her dress shirt, she revealed a dark emerald colored birthmark on her left shoulder. The birthmark consisted of a leaf which was surrounded in a spiral of wind which was identical to the picture Dr. Crusoe showed them in class.

"So you're a descendant of the Ancient Sylphian civilization? I feel honored to be your friend." Miyu replied as she gazed at the birthmark. After a few moments, Ayase let out a sigh of relief before buttoning up her dress shirt.

"Thanks, Miyu. I am glad to have you as a friend." Ayase answered calmly before smiling slightly. Ayase's smile disappeared suddenly and she dived off the bed, grabbing onto Miyu in the process. They both landed on the ground just as an arrow broke through the window and embedded itself in the wall three inches above Miyu's head.

"W-What the heck?!" Miyu gasped, her gaze shooting over to the window. Her left hand immediately went to her device Panzerglaive, wrapping her hand around it. Ayase silently motioned to Miyu to stop before quietly standing up. She spotted a cloaked figure outside standing on a platform made of wind. The cloaked figure was ready to shoot another arrow, but the person lowered the bow when Ayase stood up.

"Who in the world are you?" Ayase asked in calmly serious voice, causing the cloaked figured to chuckle slightly and look at Ayase with displeasure.

"So you don't recognize a fellow member of your own race. Your time on this planet has been a bad influence on you. I guess I need to remedy that by taking care of your friend." The cloaked figure answered tauntingly as he slowly pointed the bow at Miyu and fired. Ayase just stood there quietly before a smile slowly appeared on her face. Soon after, a wall of wind materialized in front of Miyu. The arrow hit the wall of wind with enough force to release a backblast of wind. The arrow tried to use the rest of its momentum to pierce through the wind wall but the wind wall created had enough resistance that the arrow stopped moving entirely.

"What the heck is going on?" Miyu hissed quietly. She kept her gaze focused on the attacker, glaring at him. Ayase looked down at Miyu to see if she was okay. Miyu looked unharmed so Ayase turned back towards the cloaked figure who snickered sinisterly as he prepared to fire another arrow. Ayase took a deep breath before looking at the cloaked figure with a vengeful look.

"Armor Jacket, materialize!" Ayase called out before a mini wind vortex made of radiant, emerald green wind energy appeared and engulfed her. Miyu glanced over at her with a confused yet excited expression on her face. She had no idea what was going on, but it really got the blood pumping through her veins.

"This guy could be very dangerous... I'll transform if needed..." Miyu said quietly as the wind vortex surrounding Ayase disappeared, revealing Ayase dressed in her Armor Jacket. She had a high tech compound bow in her right hand. Turning to look at Miyu, she gave her a reassuring smile.

"If you need me to step in... just tell me. Panzerglaive and I will blow this guy away!" Miyu stated confidently. Ayase nodded in response before raising her bow and taking aim at the cloaked figure. Quickly pulling back on the bowstring with her left hand, radiant green mana formed itself into the shape of an arrow. The cloaked figure fired his arrow at Ayase but the wind generated by Ayase's blew it away so that it hit the window frame. After fully charging the mana arrow, Ayase released the bowstring which caused the arrow to shoot forward at extremely high speeds. The cloaked figure tried to form a wind barrier but Ayase's mana arrow sped through before the barrier was fully formed and hit the cloaked figure in the shoulder. The force of the mana arrow knocked the cloaked figure off the wind platform and propelled him into one of the trees outside of the campus.

'I didn't think arrows could be that strong...' Miyu thought to herself with an amazed expression. Ayase lowed her bow after a few more seconds.

"Are you alright, Miyu?" Ayase asked in a concerned tone as she glanced over at her friend.

"Y-Yeah. Just kind of surprised... that's all." Miyu replied as she got on her feet. Ayase chuckled hesitantly while running her left hand down the braid in her hair. Checking over her shoulder, she looked at which tree the mysterious figure crashed into. He seemed to be out cold. A few moments later, she turned and looked at Miyu apologetically.

"I am sorry, Miyu. This isn't really how I want to explain things to you." Ayase said as she dispelled the wind wall that was in front of Miyu.

"You know that I learn things better through actions than through words." Miyu joked teasingly. "But it's nice to finally know this about you."

"What do you think of my Armor Jacket, Miyu?" Ayase asked curiously as she opened her backpack in search of her cellphone. Ayase fumbled through all the stuff she carried in her backpack before taking out a black PDA phone.

"It suits you. Though... I've never heard of an Armor Jacket before." Miyu replied with a smile on her face. Ayase quickly looked through her phonebook before finding her mother's number and dialing it.

"An Armor Jacket is the Sylphian version of the Barrier Jacket and it provides the perfect balance of mobility and defense." Ayase explained as her call made it through to her mother's cellphone.

"Interesting..." Miyu stated, giving a small nod before looking out of the window.

Ayase had a short conversation explaining the situation to her mother and hung up after the call was finished. "Miyu. I just called my mother and she is sending the TSAB Police down here. She is the Head Enforcer of the TSAB's Central Office." Ayase explained calmly before sitting down on the bed and resting her bow on her lap. Miyu seemed interested in Ayase's bow, so Ayase quietly motioned for Miyu to hold her hands out. As soon as Miyu did so, Ayase placed her bow into Miyu's hands. "My device's name is Windstrider and this is her deployed state. Ayase explained to Miyu. Miyu tested the weight for a bit before giving a look of surprise.

"It's so light…"

"Well, Windstrider was specifically designed for me by the TSAB Engineering Department at my mother's request. It is based off an Ancient Sylphian bow design which had some upgrades which makes it more efficient in combat. It is made from a TSAB made composite alloy which makes it light and durable. One of the upgrades my mother requested was an auto-loader." Ayase explained calmly as she pointed to the dark emerald and gold colored box which had a gold arrow holding ring mounted on the left hand side of the box. It was mounted on the lower end of the dark emerald and gold half oval piece of metal which formed the center part of the bow so that it was resting against the bottom foldable part of the bow where the handle and the handguard was.

"I see... You must be really accurate with it." Miyu's voice trailed off for a few seconds. Ayase chuckled slightly while scratching her head.

"Well, you could say that Miyu, but I am required to be extremely accurate with it or I wouldn't have been able to get a license to carry/use Windstrider." Ayase explained calmly and she started to go through the other features of Windstrider. Miyu listened to everything that Ayase had to say, the glint of curiosity in her eye never leaving. "Another upgrade my mother requested was a removable sniper kit which mounts on to Windstrider which I never use. One of my personal touches I added are the two Wind Energy/Mana Capacitors which stores both Wind Energy and Mana." Ayase explained as she pointed to the each of the circular dynamo devices which were connected to either the upper or lower limb by a hydraulic piston.

"Amazing..." Miyu stated with a smile. Ayase smile slightly as she detached the flexible orange limbs form the upper and lower portions of the bow with the bowstring still attached. Taking out two flexible gold colored limbs, she inserted them where the orange ones used to be. She then took out a dark emerald colored bowstring and attached them to the pulley system at the end of the limbs. As soon as Ayase was finished, she slung the bow over her shoulder before deactivating her Armor Jacket. A few seconds later, the door of the Infirmary opened and a TSAB Police Officer walked in. Miyu turned her attention over to the door.

"They're here," Miyu mumbled to Ayase. Ayase just shrugged as she stood up. The TSAB Police Officer looked at Miyu and Ayase for awhile before speaking up.

"Excuse me. Are you Ayase T. Harlaown?" The officer asked as he looked back and forth at the two girls. Ayase quickly waved to the officer which directed his attention to her. Ayase stood there smiling slightly as she waited for the officer to respond. "We have received a phone call from Enforcer Alyssa T. Harlaown regarding you getting attacked by an unknown assailant. The TSAB would like to take a formal statement from you and your friend regarding the manner." The officer explained calmly. Miyu just nodded and glanced over at Ayase.

"Let's go, Miyu. I was planning to go to the TSAB Central Office anyways." Ayase commented as she slung her backpack over her shoulder before walking towards the TSAB Police Officer.

"Right." Miyu replied with a nod as she followed Ayase out of the Infirmary.

**TSAB Central Office**

**Central Cranagan**

**11:00 AM**

Ayase and Miyu both arrived at the TSAB Central Office after a short transporting session. They were escorted into the lobby where Ayase's mother was waiting for them with another woman who had brown hair styled in a ponytail, blue eyes, and was wearing glasses. Ayase quickly waved to her mother which caused her smile slightly as she waved back. Ayase's mother walked towards the TSAB Police Officer and told him that she could take care of the interview and that he could go home.

"Thank you, Enforcer Harlaown!" The TSAB Police Officer exclaimed as he waved goodbye to Ayase and Miyu before rushing out the front door of the building.

"Mom? Why are you here too?" Miyu asked the brown haired woman with the glasses.

"Enforcer Harlaown told me that you were attacked so I hurried over." her mother replied.

"Oh... I see." Miyu nodded. Miyu's mother then turned to look at Ayase with a serious look on her face. Ayase just stood there calmly watching Miyu talking to her mother.

"You should have called someone sooner instead of fighting back. It could have ended up with you two getting hurt." Miyu's mother scolded Miyu and Ayase.

Ayase quietly brought up a holographic screen which showed her ID. Afterwards, Ayase looked at Miyu's mother.

"Mom-" Miyu started, but she cut herself off once she heard Ayase start talking

"In response to that, I am authorized by the TSAB to use force to protect people. I suggest that you look at the Mage Status portion of my ID. I am a Contract Mage for the TSAB." Ayase countered calmly as she moved the screen closer to Miyu's mother.

"I didn't know that." Miyu's mother replied after taking a closer look at the screen before she nodded slowly.

"I'm a part of the TSAB remember... I didn't need to call for help..." Miyu mumbled. Ayase let out a sigh of relief before quietly watching the exchange between Miyu and her mother.

"But you're only a trainee dear." Miyu's mother replied to her daughter.

"But an A rank trainee!" Mizu exclaimed in her own defense.

"Still a trainee." her mother stated. Miyu pouted and crossed her arms across her chest.

"That doesn't matter..." Miyu mumbled quietly under her breath. Ayase and her mother exchanged looks before Ayase's mother decided to jump into the conversation. Ayase's mother coughed one to clear her throat before speaking.

"Tsugumi. You should learn to have faith in your daughter. If you continue to treat her like a child, you will hold her back from her achieving her full potential. Listen to me when I say this, I want you to sit on the sideline and only help her when she absolutely needs it." Ayase's mother explained calmly as Ayase listened quietly with a slight smile on her face.

"I understand." Tsugumi nodded, sighing softly. Miyu nodded as well and wrapped her left hand around Panzerglaive.

"You know that I'll never go down easily. Especially not to some random person." Miyu said determinedly.

"I trust you. You did take your father's place after all..." Tsugumi said to Miyu. Miyu's mother's comment did pique Ayase's interest but Ayase's mother wanted to speak to her. She called her over to the side for a of Tsugumi's subordinates contacted her and relayed a quick message to her. The screen in front of her disappeared after he finished and Tsugumi let out a sigh.

"Enforcer Harlaown, there is a little problem going on back in my department and I need to go help out with it. May I be dismissed?" she asked. Ayase's mother nodded and Tsugumi smiled over at Miyu. "Miyu, can you stop by the store on your way out of here?" Tsugumi asked.

"Yeah." Miyu replied, nodding.

"Thanks." Tsugumi smiled at her daughter before hurrying out of the area. Miyu watched her mother leave before she heard something that sparked her interest.

"Welcome to the TSAB Air Force, Ayase." she head Ayase's mother say.

"Did I miss something?" Miyu asked in a totally lost tone as she turned around towards them." she saw a woman with brown hair tied in a side ponytail dressed in the Air Forces uniform walk towards her. It was Nanoha. Miyu hadn't noticed her come in.

"Ayase just became a member of the TSAB Air Forces. Apparently, the report of her assisting in the apprehension of a criminal today has shown command that Ayase does have what it takes to be an Aerial Mage." Nanoha explained.

"T-That so?" Miyu stuttered. She was still feeling nervous around Nanoha for some reason."C-Congratulations Ayase!" Miyu exclaimed excitedly. Ayase smiled slightly at Miyu before looking at her mother. Nanoha waved goodbye to the three and walked away since she had to get going to attend to her duties. Ayase's mother smiled slightly before clearing her throat.

"Ayase. Miyu. Since both of you are below the age of 18, you two will be paired togethe during missions. Also, both of you are also limited to two missions per week unless there is an emergency where we need more people. I expect the best out of you two." Ayase's mother explained as Ayase and Miyu listened carefully.

"I have one mission already..." Miyu mumbled extremely quietly, glancing off to the side. Ayase noticed Miyu do that and that piqued her curiosity but she decided to hold off asking about it until later on. Ayase's mother said that they could go for the day. Ayase acknowledged her mother's orders before turning around and walking towards the front door.

"Okay, Mom. I am going to do some Parkour while I go grocery shopping downtown. What do you want to eat today, Mom?" Ayase asked as she was about to step outside the office.

"Well, I am in the mood for Katsudon today, Ayase." Ayase's mother answered calmly as Ayase turned her head and nodded before walking out of the door. After Ayase has left, Ayase's mother remembered something and turned to Miyu, telling her to follow her into her office. She had an update on Miyu's father. Miyu followed her silently, wondering what was going on.

**Enforcer Alyssa T Harlaown's Office**

**TSAB Central Office**

**12:30 PM**

"Miyu. Please sit down." Alyssa suggested as she motioned towards the chair in front of her desk.

"What's going on..?" Miyu asked as sat down. Alyssa waited for Miyu to sit before she started talking.

"Miyu. I got an update from the hospital about your father." Alyssa explained calmly as she waited for Miyu's response. Alyssa took out some paperwork and placed it on her desk.

"Really? Tell me please." Miyu replied while folding her hands in her lap. Alyssa responded with a soft smile. She completely understood what Miyu was going through so she could sympathize with her.

"Your father is cleared to be discharged from the hospital. He hasn't suffered any long term damage from the incident but I recommended that he take some time off. So, I arranged for him to take a few months of medical leave with full pay. Also, I also arranged for a psychologist to be made available to your father just in case if he develops some psychological problems due to the shock of the incident." Alyssa explained calmly as she handed Miyu her father's medical release forms. Miyu let out of a sigh of relief and smiled.

"I'm glad... Mom would be devastated if anything worse happened. When I visited him at 3AM the next morning... they said he wouldn't be able to use much magic for a while. They said his Linker Core needed time to replenish itself. How long will that take?" Miyu asked after letting out a big sigh of relief. Alyssa smiled slightly as she watched Miyu relax somewhat.

"Well, about that. Unfortunately, considering your father's age, it would take at least approximately 2 years for him to regain all the mana he lost." Alyssa answered calmly as she handed Miyu another report from Shamal, the TSAB's doctor.

"Who's going to take his place as an Enforcer until he gets back to that level?" Miyu asked.

"My friend, Teana Lanster is currently taking over your father's assignments. Also, about that. I heard that you want to take over your father's position." Alyssa replied in a rather serious tone as she looked at straight into Miyu's eyes.

"Yes. It's always been my dream to become an Enforcer." Miyu answered as she nodded her head. Alyssa let out a sigh of relief and shook her head.

"I have to commend you on your willingness to take your father's place but I can't officially allow you to do that. Being an Enforcer requires a certain skillset that takes years to develop. Also, if you screw up as an Enforcer, all the consequences fall on your shoulders." Alyssa explained calmly. Miyu was wondering if Alyssa knew that she had already taken his place in the current Gear of Judgment incident.

"I know that." Miyu replied calmly as Alyssa continued to look at Miyu seriously.

"Also, there is a reason why I teamed you up with Ayase." Alyssa added calmly as she smiles slyly.

"Hm? And what is that reason?" Miyu asked curiously.

"Well, to keep an eye on you. I already know that my mother, Fate, has granted you permission to work on the Gear of Judgement case. Also, Ayase has been worried about you recently." Alyssa explained as she ran her hand through her crimson red hair.

'Information spreads so fast...' Miyu thought to herself. "I'm going to prove myself by figuring the case out." Miyu stated, the confidence and determination showing on her features."But... Why is Ayase worried about me? Miyu asked with a confused expression.

Alyssa shook her head slightly before looking up at Miyu again. "Again, I commend your determination but I can't allow you to officially handle the case. But, I'll allow you to assist the lead Enforcer on the case. Ayase will also be assisting the lead Enforcer as well. And about Ayase, she sensed some sadness within you the last couple days and she wanted to know why you were sad." Alyssa explained as she got up and made herself of coffee.

"I see." Miyu nodded. She /had/ been sort of sad for the past couple of days, but she realized that she shouldn't let it get to her. "I understand." Miyu added,which earned her a smile from Alyssa. Alyssa excused Miyu a few second later and Miyu started heading to the exit. Before she could make it to the door, Alyssa walked over to Miyu with a bouquet of flowers.

"These are for your father. Can you tell him I said "hi"?" Alyssa asked while smiling at Miyu.

"I'll do that on my way from the grocery store." Miyu replied with a nod. Alyssa waved goodbye and Miyu left the office.

"I hope you know what you are getting yourself into, Miyu." Alyssa mumbled quietly as she sipped on her cup of coffee and looked out of the window.

**Cranagan**

**Cranagan Shopping District**

**1:07PM**

After leaving the Main Office, Miyu headed to the Shopping District to get some shopping done for her mother. She walked out of the grocery with the bags around her arm once she finished and looked up at the sky. "I wonder what time it is…" she said to herself, yawning slightly. Looking down into one of the bags, she spotted the flowers that Alyssa gave her earlier. "Oh yeah, gotta get these to dad." she started heading down the street while checking the bags.

"Sir." Panzerglaive flashed as Miyu looked up again.

"Hm?" Miyu looked and spotted a white haired woman standing in front of them. "Do you want something?" she asked. The figure just smirked and raised her hand into the air. A purple magic circle appeared underfoot and she whispered something inaudible. Miyu gasped, realizing too late that the figure just used a force-field containment spell. It covered all up to a block around them. "This is…" The woman continued to smirk as a wooden staff appeared in her hands.

"Are you a strong girl~?" the woman asked as she pointed her staff at Miyu and began floating into the air.

"What do you think you're doing? Challenging a TSAB member out in broad daylight… just who are you?" Miyu had so many questions about this person that just appeared before her.

"You ask so many questions like the rest… it's time for your trial~" the woman cooed, seven magical bullets appearing in the air around her.

"Don't tell me… are you that woman that's been going around attacking people in this whole Gear of Judgement incident?" Miyu asked, glaring at the woman.

"Oh I dunno… am I?" the woman smirked as she fired the bullets at Miyu.

"Round Shield." Panzerglaive announced as a red magic circle acting as a shield appeared in front of Miyu. The bullets connected with the shield and exploded into white smoke.

"Thanks." Miyu thanked Panzerglaive, then looked at her opponent with a serious expression. "You attacked my father… You injured him… Now I'm going to bring you down… I don't care that you can fly either!" she growled. "Panzerglaive! Set up!" she raised her fist into the air and her necklace flashed.

"Yes sir." Panzerglaive replied as Miyu quickly transformed into her barrier jacket.

"Discharge form." Panzerglaive transformed into its Discharge form quickly and Miyu pointed it at the woman.

"Ohh~? The little girl got serious!" the woman laughed as she raised her arm into the air. "Curse Two…" several orbs of energy began appearing in the air above her head. "Infernal Meteors!" the woman swung her arm downwards and the orbs began shooting towards Miyu like comets.

"Sentinel Defenser." Panzerglaive announced as a forcefield formed from hexagons appeared around Miyu. Once the attack stopped, Miyu activated Velocity Blazer and shot herself forward, getting behind the woman before she noticed. Spinning around in the air, she aimed Panzerglaive into the air and yelled. "Aero Torpedo!" she fired an energy blast right at the woman, but she suddenly disappeared into thin air before it hit. "What the… did she Teleport?" Miyu looked around left and right, wondering where she would appear.

"I'm not on the ground!" Miyu heard the woman yell and she looked up, spotting the woman falling towards her, a chain wrapped around her arm with a giant gear attached to it. Suddenly, an radiant emerald green mana arrow sailed through the air and hit the chain which was connected to the gear. The force of the arrow knocked the chain away so the gear missed Miyu's head. A second mana arrow followed afterward, this time aimed at the mysterious girl's head. Miyu saw the woman briefly show a look of surprise, so she took the opportunity to hit her in the stomach with a Crushing Whirlwind, sending her flying into the window of the grocery store. After a second or so, Miyu lowered her Device and let out a relieved sigh.

"You are quite a bold one to be attacking a TSAB Agent in broad daylight." Ayase commented.

"Ayase!" Miyu called out, turning towards the sound of her voice.

"Sir." Panzerglaive interrupted. Miyu stopped in her tracks and turned back towards the other woman. She was climbing back through the hole in the window, her clothes slightly torn.

"Oh? Another one has shown up?" the woman smirked, floating into the air again.

"Really now, two loonies in one day." Ayase commented as she uncloaked herself and stood up in her black top and grey khakis. Ayase was positioned on the rooftop of one of the nearby tall woman was about to attack again, but her form flickered briefly, causing her to frown. For a split second, the form of a black haired girl could be seen, but she was back to being silver haired a millisecond later.

"Aww... looks like my time here is up for now. It was nice playing with you~"

"What? You're not going anywhere!" Miyu activated Velocity Blazer again and shot towards the woman. Shooting her fist forward, she tried to hit the woman, but her fist connected with nothing but air. The woman had escaped by teleporting away. "No!" Miyu yelled as she slid to a stop. A few seconds later, Ayase parkoured off the building she was standing on , jumping from rooftop to rooftop. She vaulted off the edge of the building before quietly landing next to Miyu. "She got away..." Miyu mumbled quietly, punching the wall next to her so hard that it cracked slightly. It also hurt her hand a little. "She got away..."

"Don't worry, Miyu. The second arrow I shot at her was a tracking arrow." Ayase explained calmly as a small crimson red and black dragon appeared and landed on Ayase's right shoulder.

"Hello, Lady Ayase." The small dragon said respectfully as Ayase patted her head.

"Hello, Feuerdrache. Did you manage to track down the person who attacked Miyu?" Ayase asked calmly.

"I am sorry, Lady Ayase. I couldn't track her down." Feuerdrache replied. Ayase nodded and turned her attention to Miyu. Miyu was looking over at the groceries and the flowers, which had been ruined in the fight.

"She even destroyed the stuff…"

"Come on, Miyu. We can re buy the groceries and the flowers. You can tag along with me, I haven't bought my groceries yet. I was busy Parkouring around town." Ayase suggested as she extended her right hand out. Miyu's clothes reverted back to their normal form and Panzerglaive went back to it undeployed form, revealing that Miyu had bruised her hand when she punched the wall. Sighing softly, Ayase crouched down next to Miyu."Let me get that bruise patched up, Miyu." she said gently as she took out some antibiotic gel and sprayed it onto Miyu's bruise. She took out a bandage and placed in on the bruise next .Miyu cast her gaze to the ground, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"I couldn't do anything Ayase..."

"There. There. Its okay to cry, Miyu." Ayase answered caringly as she hugged Miyu.

"What am I supposed to do if I can't beat her...?" Miyu asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Well, next time we will be prepared to beat her." Ayase replied in an encouraging voice.

"I have absolutely nothing that could actually beat an Aerial Mage though..." Miyu replied quietly.

"I'll ask my mother to teach you some skills to deal with Aerial Mages. Let's go visit your father." Ayase answered calmly.

"Alright..." Miyu nodded, slowly getting to her feet. A fiery look was present in her eyes. "And once I learn more things... I'll make sure that woman thinks twice before hurting my family members again..."


	5. Chapter 5 - A Rare Moment

**July 20**

**Cranagan Medical Center**

**1:37PM**

It took a few minutes, but Miyu eventually was able to get the new groceries and flowers. After everything was taken care of, Miyu and Ayase headed to Cranagan's Medical Center. Once they arrived, they were informed that Miyu's father was currently having another check-up, so they would have to wait a couple of minutes before they could see him. Miyu replied to the information with a nod and headed over to a place to sit, plopping down and she started gently rubbing her injured hand. "I shouldn't have punched that wall…"

"Hmm, I agree. Also, this is the first time you acted rashly like that. Is there something you aren't telling me, Miyu?" Ayase replied seriously as she stood against the wall.

"No…" Miyu shook her head, sighing softly.

"The flow of the wind tells me you are hiding something but I am not going to push you. You can tell me when you are ready." Ayase answered calmly.

"I'd figured you already knew… but I guess you don't." Miyu stopped messing with her hand and glanced over at Ayase.

"My guess is whatever you are hiding involves the girl that attacked you earlier." Ayase replied.

"Don't you know who she is..?" Miyu asked, turning towards her friend.

"I don't know her name but I tell you that I sense that mana from one of the students in our high school."

"I don't remember anyone white-haired at our school..." Miyu mumbled as she casted her gaze to the ground. "But she's the reason why my dad is here..."

"I see. So my mom was partially telling me the truth." Ayase commented calmly as she went to a drink machine and got two cans of hot over to Miyu, she handed her one of them."Here." Ayase said calmly as she took out her PDA cellphone. Miyu accepted the hot chocolate with a nod and popped open the can, taking a sip of it.

"I guess I'll have to get you up to speed then…"

"I want you to explain everything from the beginning." Ayase requested as she put away her phone. Nodding, Miyu took another sip of hot chocolate and let out a soft sigh.

"Alright… Basically, three days ago, I decided to head to the Ground Forces HQ after passing my ranking exam, and I ran into my dad there. He told me that he was working on a new case about mages being attacked and looted like the Book of Darkness incident, but this time mages were being left in life-threatening conditions. I returned home after spending a few hours there and waited for awhile. I found that it was strange that no one was home yet,so I waited for a little while longer and my mom eventually came home. I went to go welcome her home, but she looked very upset. After helping her over to the couch, she explained to me that my dad got attacked and was in the hospital in critical condition… I realized that he had become a victim of the incident he was trying to stop… I felt like I had to avenge my dad somehow… After that, I headed to the TSAB HQ in search for Fate, eventually running into her accidentally. I told her that I wished to take my dad's place in the case and she reluctantly let me… then she informed me that thank to his work, it was discovered that the case was linked to a Lost Logia called the Gear of Judgement." Miyu took a moment to take another gulp of hot chocolate before continuing on. "The Gear of Judgement was created to 'purge the world of the weak' or something like that… I found that out from research from the Infinity Library. Anyways, it has this system where it judges someone to test if they have what it considers to be real power, and if they pass, it boosts their power. If they fail… it impales them with a magical spear and drains their Linker Core, storing the stolen energy inside of itself until it boosts its next chosen one. The more people it denies… the more powerful the boosts become. It's a really dangerous thing…" she finished.

"I see. Trust me, Miyu. Revenge will get you nowhere." Ayase explained as she started sipping on her hot chocolate.

"It's already making me unintentionally hurt myself..." Miyu smiled weakly, holding up her injured hand.

"You really need to learn to control your anger." Ayase commented calmly as leaned against the wall.

"It is not good for your health." Panzerglaive suddenly stated.

"So even you're worried about me, Panzerglaive..." Miyu sighed softly.

"Yes sir." it replied.

"Panzerglaive, what is your opinion on the mysterious girl?" Ayase asked curiously as a beeping on her PDA caught her attention.

"She seems like a very dangerous and corrupt person." Panzerglaive replied.

"She sure is persistent..." Ayase commented as she put away her PDA.

"I wonder what her goal is..." Miyu mumbled, looking over to the left as one of the medical assistants approached them.

"Excuse me. Mr. Mayuzumi is available to be seen now." the assistant stated with a warm smiled.

"Okay. Let's go Miyu. I'll call your mother to tell her the good news." Ayase replied with a sly smile as Miyu she started following the assistant. Miyu replied with a nod and followed as well. The assistant led them to a room and let them inside. Miyu's father was lying in a bed with his gaze focused on the ceiling. When the door opened, he turned his gaze over to the direction of it. Once Miyu spotted him, she immediately ran over to the bed and fell next to it, her arms draped across her father.

"Dad..!"

Shiro smiled softly and wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Hello Miyu. It's nice of you to come and visit me."

"I'm glad you're okay..." Miyu whispered quietly, a large smile on her face. "Mom was really worried..."

"I'm glad I'm okay too. I'd hate to leave you two alone so suddenly." Shiro chuckled, rubbing Miyu's back. Miyu remembered the flowers and pulled away from him briefly to show them to him.

"These are from Enforcer Harlaown." she stated. The flowers were the same kind that she had given her, but they were different ones since the originals got destroyed. Miyu was unsure if she should tell her dad about what happened earlier.

"Hm? Which Enforcer Harlaown." he said with a smirk.

"Ayase's mother. Alyssa." Miyu replied.

"Ah. Tell her thank you for me." Shiro nodded.

"She also said hi." Miyu added.

"And tell her I said hi back." Shiro grinned. Ayase smiled slightly as she used her PDA phone to call Miyu's mother. Tsugumi picked up immediately after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Excuse me, Mrs. Kirisaki. This Ayase T. Harlaown calling from the hospital." Ayase replied formally.

"Why are you at the hospital? Did something happen to Miyu?!" Tsugumi asked frantically.

"Miyu is fine. I came to the hospital to visit your husband and I got good news for you." Ayase answered calmly.

"That's a relief... what's the good news?" Tsugumi asked, letting out a happy sigh.

"Your husband has recovered fully from his injuries and is cleared to be discharged today. Would you like to talk to him, Mrs. Kirisaki?" Ayase explained.

"Y-Yes please…" Tsugumi replied while attempting to retain her composure.

"Excuse me, Mr. Mayuzumi. Your wife would like to talk to you." Ayase reported calmly as she walked up and handed Mr. Mayuzumi her phone.

"Hello? Oh, hello Tsugumi." Shiro spoke softly into the phone. "Yes, I'm fine..." the two talked for awhile while Miyu backed off and stood next to Ayase.

"We should get back to school soon." she suggested.

"Well, the final class of the day is Magical Combat and it won't start until 4 PM. Miyu, you should spend more time with your father." Ayase explained calmly as she checked her watch.

"True... but... I dunno..." Miyu sighed softly.

"Well, It is barely 2:30 PM so we got plenty of time." Ayase explained as Feuerdrache entered the room after patrolling the hospital perimeter. Feuerdrache then landed on her right shoulder.

"We'll see how long my dad talks to my mom. You know how long adults like to talk…" 

You should let them talk. Your mom must have been worried sick about your father." Ayase replied in defense of Miyu's parents

"That's what I plan to do." Miyu stated with a nod.

"By the way, Miyu. I got a little suprise for you and your family." Ayase said calmly as she took out a small white envelope from a pocket on her khakis and handed it to Miyu.

"Eh? What is it?" Miyu asked, gazing at the envelope.

"Well, these are VIP tickets to my friend, Angelica's concert. She is a very famous singer/idol on Mid-Childa. She gave me a total of 8 and I kept 4. I am giving the other four to you and your family." Ayase explained calmly as she handed Miyu the white envelope.

"

Four tickets... But there are only three members of my family. Me, my mom, and my dad." Miyu stated, her voice trailing off as she thought to herself for a moment. "Maybe I could invite Ethan..."

"Luckily for us that we managed to get these tickets. The venue is almost sold out." Ayase commented with a slight smile

"Is it okay if I invite Ethan?" Miyu asked.

"I haven't met Ethan yet but if you want, you could bring him." Ayase answered calmly.

"Of course. He's a year older than us."

"The concert will at 9 PM on Saturday." Ayase replied calmly as she went out to get a cup of tea from the drink machine

"Alright." Miyu nodded, glancing over at her father. He was still on the phone with her mother.

"The funny thing about Angelica was that she was extremely hesitant about becoming a singer even though she has an excellent singing voice." Ayase added while sipping on her cup of tea.

"I see." Miyu nodded, beginning to mess with her hand again. The conversation continued on for awhile longer until they were interrupted by Shiro. He had finished talking to his wife and now he felt like resting for a little while.

"Hey, Miyu. Are you feeling hungry?" Ayase asked curiously.

"Now that I think about it... yeah, I am. It /is/ past lunchtime now..." she replied, rubbing her stomach.

"Mr. Mayuzumi. Do you want me to get anything for lunch for you?" Ayase asked respectfully as she looked towards Miyu's father and smiled

"No thank you. I want to lie down for awhile." Shiro stated, smiling softly "You two go and enjoy yourselves."

"We'll let you get your rest. Miyu, I know an excellent Japanese food place nearby here." Ayase replied cheerfully.

"Alright." Miyu nodded, smiling. "After we eat there it'll probably be close to the time of the last class for today."

"That's sounds like a good idea, Miyu. Goodbye, Mr. Mayuzumi," Ayase said respectfully while bowing. Miyu waved to her father before heading out the door.

"Here's your phone back." Mr. Mayuzumi outstretched his hand with Ayase's phone in it.

"Thank You." Ayase smiled, taking her phone back from Miyu's father before quietly walking out the door.

"Alright! Lead the way Ayase!" Miyu cheered happily.

**3:01**

**Cranagan**

**Sakuya Japanese Restaurant**

After the two girls left the hospital, they walked to the Japanese restaurant that Ayase mentioned. After they entered, one of the kimono-clad waitresses looked over.

"Hello, Ayase-chan!" she exclaimed happily before glomping Ayase.

"Hello Sakura." Ayase replied while chuckling slightly.

"So, Ayase. What are you in the mood for today?" Sakura asked happily as she led Ayase and Miyu to an empty table.

"I'll have Katsudon today. What do you want to eat, Miyu?" Ayase asked curiously as she looked at Miyu.

"I honestly have no idea… I haven't been to these types of places before." Miyu replied.

"This place is well known for its Okonomiyaki. Which is a japanese style pancake filled with various ingredients of your choice." Ayase explained.

"I'll try that then." Miyu said with a smile.

"Okay. Your orders will be out in a bit." Sakura said cheerfully before walking away from the table.

"I like this place's atmosphere." Miyu acknowledged.

"Its very traditional. Some of my mom's family live in Japan." Ayase explained calmly.

"Didn't you live on Earth before coming here to Mid-Childa?"

"Actually, I was an orphan on Earth 11 years ago. I bumped into my mother when she was a rookie Enforcer. She felt sorry for so she visited me at the orphanage every chance she could get and eventually she formally adopted me." Ayase explained with a smile as she mentioned her mother. "She mother was 17-18 at the time."

"I see." Miyu nodded, looking down as her stomach growled. "Oh geez..."

"Here you go!" Sakura called out as she delivered their orders to the table.

"Enjoy your meals."

"Thank you!" Miyu called after her.

"Itadakimasu." Ayase said calmly before slowly eating her Katsudon

"What does that mean?" Miyu asked her.

"Oh! Okay." Miyu nodded, looking down at her food. "Itadakimasu." she stated before she started eating. After they finished eating, Ayase looked up at Miyu and smiled.

"How was the food, Miyu?" she asked.

"It was very good." Miyu replied.

"We should get going. Class will start soon."Ayase stated as she paid the bill.

"Right." Miyu nodded.

**3:54PM**

**Path to St. Hilde**

**Northern Mid-Childa**

Ayase and Miyu left the restaurant and caught the train to Northern Mid-Childa just before it left the station. After arriving, they hopped off and traveled to the school, both excited to take part in the Combat class.

"I can't wait to be in Magic Combat Class." Ayase commented as she and Miyu walked toward their high school.

"Me either. I wonder what's in store for us." Miyu replied, her hands folded behind her head.

"From what I heard from my Aunt, It teaches you the basics of magic combat." Ayase commented.

"Do you think I'll learn more about how to counter Aerial Mages?" Miyu questioned, glancing over at her friend.

"The first year of the class is dedicated to ground combat. But, that depends on the teacher." Ayase commented as she Miyu turned into the grounds of their high school.

"I wonder if anyone will be at my level then..." Miyu muttered to herself.

"We will never know til we get there. As for me, the amount of magic power I have rivals my mother.

"I've never seen your mother's magic capabilities before... but they must be pretty good considering her rank." Miyu stated as she dropped her arms to her sides.

" From what Feuerdrache says, my mom's magic can literally burn the whole world to ashes but I have yet to see my mom use her full power." Ayase commented with a chuckle.

"Geez..." Miyu mumbled quietly. After a few more seconds, they reached the front doors of the high school building.

"Looks like Magic Combat class will be held in the Magic Training Hall." Ayase said calmly, looking at a flyer posted on the door as she stretched out her muscles.

"Alright. Let's head there." Miyu nodded.

"Okay." Ayase replied as she and Miyu turned towards the Magic Training Hall. While on the way there, Ayase bumped into a girl who busy rushing to get to the same place as the two of them.

"Careful there." Miyu mumbled as she stopped Ayase from falling.

"Excuse me." Ayase replied to the girl that bumped into her before walking away with Miyu.

"That reminds me… Do you know the Protection spell?" Miyu asked.

"Well, I usually make barriers using the wind/wind energy in the area." Ayase explained cheerfully

"Is that set to default? Some people have their Protection spell set to automatically block attacks..." Miyu stated.

"It's not set to default. The wind instantly follows my commands as I soon as I give them." Ayase explained hesitantly as she wasn't sure how to word her explanation.

"I see..." Miyu nodded. A few seconds later, she entered the Magic Training Hall.

"Looks like the teacher is here." Ayase commented as a blonde haired woman who was wearing a combat uniform walked in front of where Miyu's and Ayase's classmates were gathered

Miyu looked over at the teacher and smiled. "Time to start then..."

"Hello, everyone. How are you doing today?" The teacher asked was a caring smile on her face.

Mumbled 'good's and 'doing well's were heard throughout the crowd of assembled students.

"Okay. Today I am supposed to teach you the basics of Magic Combat from a textbook but that is boring to us both." The teacher replied with a smile.

"Go on..." Miyu mumbled, a sly grin forming on her face.

"Well. As my sensei Alyssa T. Harlaown likes to say, "Let's start off with a demonstration." The teacher added which caused the other students to look at Ayase, which made her turn red in the face slightly.

"Go on..." Miyu repeated, her grin getting wider.

"I will choose two students from the class and they will spar against each other." The teacher added as she started looking around at the class.

'I wonder who she'll pick...' Miyu thought to herself.

"Okay. The first lucky person is Ayase T. Harlaown." The teacher replied as she pointed at Ayase.

Miyu gave Ayase a thumbs up.

And the second person I choose is Hailey..." The teacher replied as she pointed to another student who was sitting on the other side of the class. Ayase took one look at Hailey before a serious look appeared on her face. Miyu noticed the look and knew something was bothering her.

"Okay. Ayase and Hailey. Stand up and prepare to spar." The teacher ordered as Ayase and Hailey walked over to the other half of the Magic Training Area. Ayase took position near one wall and Hailey stood near another. She shifted into a fighting position and watched Ayase. "Okay. Activate your Devices." The teacher commanded as she watched from the sidelines. Hailey held up her right wrist and her bracelet materialized into a black staff with purple gems embedded throughout it head. Ayase turned her pendant into its bow form and stood ready. "All Set! Go!" the teacher exclaimed.

"I'll give you the liberty of making the first attack." Hailey said coldly.

"Nah. You go ahead and make the first move." Ayase answered sarcastically as she entered a combat stance. Hailey whispered something as seven orbs of purple mana appeared in the air around her and she fired them at Ayase. Ayase used some of the air in the building to create a barrier. As soon as she did that, she pulled her bowstring back and started charging a mana arrow. Hailey immediately held out her hand and whispered another spell name, a bubble of mana appearing behind Ayase which started sucking her into it. Ayase smiled slightly as a dark emerald green mana circle appeared under her feet. Ayase quickly backflipped into the air before firing a mana arrow right next to the bubble. The arrow quickly hit the ground before creating a wind vortex which started sucking in the wind energy in the building. Ayase's attack also released two spirit arrows that homed in on Hailey.

Hailey held out her hands and two blurry mana orbs appeared and started hovering next to her. Flying into the air, the orbs followed and began shooting streams of magic bullets at the arrows and Ayase. Ayase responded by summoning a wind wall and firing a mana arrow through it. As soon as the arrow went through the wind wall, it split into multiple smaller arrows. Hailey held out her hand and a magic circle appeared on a nearby wall, which fired out a beam that caught the arrows sideways and made them disappear. Continuing to fly through the air, the orbs that were hovering next to Hailey continued firing streams of bullets at Ayase.

Ayase smiled slightly, having a plan in mind. Ayase formed an invisible wind barrier all around her which had a special property. She then allowed Hailey's attack to hit her.

"A-Ayase!" Miyu called out.

"Hm?" Hailey stopped flying around for a moment to look at Ayase.

"This is the first time I generated this many Wind Orbs." Ayase commented as the smoke cleared revealing that Ayase was totally unharmed and she smiling. Immediately, Miyu noticed that Ayase had five radiant, emerald green balls of energy floating around her.

"Things are getting intense..!" Miyu stated excitedly. She was beginning to get an adrenaline rush just from watching the battle. Ayase quickly closed her left fist which cause two large Sylphian Mana Circles to appear above and below Hailey. A wind wall soon sounded Hailey which prevent her from moving temporary. Afterwards, many wind-lances appear from the mana circles and they all shot towards Hailey at high glanced over to the left, distracted by a purple magic circle on the ground nearby. Looking back at Hailey, she saw her disappear into thin air and reappear on top of the circle.

"...Impressive." Hailey said with a smile. "But as long as I have these set up... I can teleport to them at any given time... I've set up these "transport circles" around as I was flying. So... nice try." she smirked.

"Smart..!" Miyu found that she could hardly contain her excitement.

"Not bad. But, you need more than trickery to beat me." Ayase commented calmly as she got ready for Hailey's next attack. Hailey fired off blasts at the ceiling, a wall, and the floor and they began ricocheting around. Ayase charged some mana into her legs and waited for the blast to get near her. So soon as they neared her, Ayase used her mana infused legs to kick the blast which deflected them into another direction. The blasts continued to ricochet until they connected with different surfaces five times, then they disappeared. Meanwhile, Hailey had charged up a giant orb of energy and she fired it at Ayase.

An Ancient Sylphian bow made of wind energy materialized using Windstrider as its center, and Ayase quickly pulled back the bowstring which caused a very large mana arrow to form, Ayase firing it as soon as it was fully charged. The mana arrow and Hailey's energy ball connected in midair. Hailey's energy ball tried to move forward but Ayase's mana arrow forced it back. Hailey smirked as she flew over the top of the orb and held out her hand. "Bind!" A purple ring appeared around Ayase and it suddenly shrunk, holding her in place. "Interstellar Stream!" A magic circle appeared to her left and sent a laser sweeping across the ground towards Ayase.

Ayase smiled in response as she detonated one whole Sylphian Wind Orb as the laser was about to hit her. The blast produced a whole lot of smoke which soon cover the whole Magic Training Area.

"I-I can't see anything!" Miyu waved her arm in front of her to try to clear some smoke so she could see what was going on. "They haven't even put on their jackets yet but they still are going all out!"

Hailey was back on the ground again, leaning against her Device. "Hm..."

After a few moments, the smoke slowly dissipated, revealing Ayase standing behind Hailey with Windstrider aimed at her head. Ayase had a mana arrow ready to fire. Miyu quickly noticed that Hailey was bound by powerful wind shackles.

"W-Woah..." Miyu was wide-eyed.

"That is a good enough demonstration, you two. I want you two to cease combat." The teacher commanded calmly after walking in after the smoke has cleared.

"Yes... it was good enough..." Hailey said with a smile.

Ayase kept Windstrider pointed at Hailey's head for a few minutes more before finally lowering it.

"That was a nice battle. It really got my adrenaline racing." Ayase commented calmly before slinging Windstrider over her shoulder. Ayase then dematerialized the Wind Orbs.

"Yes, it was..." Hailey nodded. "Is class over now, teacher?"

"Class is excused. I want all of you to study this battle carefully tonight. We will have an in depth discussion on the battle tomorrow." The teacher replied calmly after checking her watch.

"It was so intense..." Miyu mumbled to herself.

"We should get going, Miyu." Ayase suggested calmly as she turned around and walked towards the door of the Magic Training Area.

"Y-Yeah..." Miyu nodded, following after her. The two made it off of campus a few minutes later. Ayase had a serious expression on and Miyu decided to lighten up the mood a little.

"I honestly have no idea what I would've done if I was put in either of you two's position..."

"Well. Once you been in combat enough times, you instinctively know what to do." Ayase explained calmly.

"I guess I haven't been in combat enough times then..." Miyu sighed softly.

"Hmm... Windstrider detected the signal from the tracking arrow I fired at the mysterious girl coming from Hailey. That doesn't make sense." Ayase mumbled quietly.

"That really doesn't. She didn't use any gears at all."

"Something about this bugs me." Ayase replied calmly as she rested her hand on Miyu's shoulder. "Hey Miyu. Are you in the mood for Green Tea Parfait?" Ayase asked curiously as she smiled at Miyu.

"S-" Miyu cut herself off, going wide eyed. "I forgot to take the groceries home..."

"Speaking off, I forgot to buy Panko Bread Crumbs. Would you like to join me, Miyu?" Ayase asked with a giggle.

"Might as well... I'm going to need new groceries anyways. I misplaced the last ones..." Miyu laughed half-heartedly.

"Well, lets go get some Green Tea Parfait." Ayase replied as she led Miyu down a street which led to a fancy japanese confectionary/desert place.

**4:45PM**

**Cranagan**

**Japanese Confectionary/Desert Place**

As the two made it to the eatery, Miyu bumped her hand against the door frame on her way inside. "Ow..."

"Are you alright, Miyu?" Ayase asked in a slightly worried tone.

"Yeah. I just bumped my hand."

"You should go get that checked out. You might have broken some bones in your hand." Ayase suggested as Ayase's mother waved from one of the table. She was currently talking to Miyu's mother.

Miyu quickly hid her hand behind her back. "I don't think I do..."

"Mom?! What are you going here?" Ayase asked in a surprised tone as she took a table that was behind her mother.

"Tsugumi and I have just gotten off work and we decided to take a little break here." Ayase's mother explained as she smiled at her daughter. Miyu sat next to Ayase, keeping her hand under the table. She didn't want to make her mother worried.

"I'll have two Green Tea Parfaits." Ayase told a waitress as she walked up to them. She gladly took the order and smiled before walking away to the kitchen.

"Hey..." Miyu whispered to Ayase. "Should we tell them... about earlier?"

"We should but not now. My mom has had a long day and I don't want her to get stressed out." Ayase replied telepathically. Miyu just nodded in reply and slumped back against the seat.

"Today was so tiring…"

"Well, lets just enjoy the Green Tea Parfait." Ayase suggested cheerfully as the waitress brought two green tea parfait out and placed them on the table along with two silver spoons.

"Enjoy yourselves, ladies." The waitress said cheerfully before walking away.

Miyu picked up one of the spoons and started eating. Ayase did the same as well. Meanwhile, Ayase's mother and Miyu's mother continued talking about the archer who attacked Ayase and Miyu at school. Miyu ate in complete silence until she finished, then Ayase's mother told Ayase that she had been assigned by central command to help Fate on a case off planet and that she would be gone for a few days starting tonight.

"I see, Mom. Take good care of yourself during the mission." Ayase answered with a calm smile.

"I want to go home now…" Miyu mumbled. Ayase paid for her and Miyu's dessert before standing and saying goodbye to her mother. Ayase and Miyu quickly walked out of the dessert shop and onto the sidewalk.

"Let's get the groceries quick..."

"Is something the matter, Miyu? You have been acting weird all day and I am worried sick!" Ayase replied in a very irritated voice.

"I'm just having one of those rare moments where I'm doubting myself..."

"It's not like you to doubt yourself like this. If you want to about what is making you doubtful about yourself, I am all ears." Ayase replied calmly yet with a caring edge to it.

"The thing I've been complaining about this entire time. My toughest weakness."

"Well, complaining about it won't help you deal with Aerial mages. How about this, Miyu. I'll ask some of the best Ground Force mages to teach you how to deal with Aerial mages." Ayase suggested calmly.

"I want to know... more things that I can do with wind."

"I see. Let me ask you something. Do you want me to teach you some things you could do with the wind? One thing though, I can't teach you most of my skills since only Sylphians could use them. " Ayase suggested calmly in an attempt to cheer Miyu up.

"Yes! Please." Miyu nodded multiple times.

"Okay. I'll teach you some of the basic things starting next week. I need you to be mentally focused or you could badly injure herself." Ayase replied calmly.

"Thank you..." Miyu nodded one more time. "Now... to the store!"

"Okay. Let's hurry up. Your dad might be home by now." Ayase replied as she and Miyu walked into the supermarket. Miyu quickly bought everything that she lost again and made sure to hold onto it all tightly. Ayase assisted Miyu in carrying the groceries to her home so Miyu didn't hurt her hand any more than it was. As soon as Ayase finished helping Miyu put away the groceries, she waved goodbye to Miyu before heading home. Miyu was grateful that Ayase helped her. Throwing away the empty bags, Miyu let out a soft sigh and headed up to her room. Flopping face-first onto her bed, she closed her eyes for a moment.

"From now on… no more doubts. It's about time I start living up to my title of The Iron Princess that I took so long to earn…"


	6. Chapter 6 - A Disappearance

**July 24th**

**5:30AM**

**Cranagan**

**Mayuzumi Residence**

A few days after Miyu was attacked, she managed to recover from her bruised hand a little. For the past four days, she had to hold back from combat training. Of course, she was irritated by that fact, but she pushed through it. She improvised by going on early morning jogs each day, which started on the 21st. As she was heading out of her bedroom to start the routine, she spotted the tickets to Ayase's friend's concert that Ayase gave her lying on the dresser. Walking over to them, she grabbed one and slipped it into the pocket of her shorts. "Might as well give Ethan his ticket since I pass by his house each morning..."

Smiling softly to herself, Miyu tiptoed downstairs and headed out the house. She paused for a moment to take a deep breath, then she began her jog. As she passed through the Shopping District, she waved to the shopkeepers that were arriving early for early bird openings. She took a quick pit-stop at the grocery store, as it was just opening, to buy a bottle of water. After leaving the store, she continued on to Ethan's house.

She eventually reached it after a few minutes.

Miyu took a moment to catch her breath before ringing the doorbell once. There was no answer. She rang it again and waited for a moment, but there was no answer again. "Well that's strange... Ethan is usually up around this time..." she mumbled to herself. Miyu switched to knocking, and as soon as she did, the door creaked open slowly. "Why is his door unlocked..?"

Miyu pushed open the door slightly and walked inside the house. It was eerily quiet and all of the lights were still on. Slowly, she headed up the stairs and turned left around the corner. Noticing that Ethan, s bedroom door was slightly open, she crept over to it and peeked inside. Ethan was nowhere to be found. Miyu opened the door completely after confirming this and stepped into the room. The first thing she noticed was that his room was completely trashed. The second thing she noticed was that small traces of mana were leading to the window, which was open.

Miyu slowly approached the window and peeked out. There were small patches of ice in his backyard, evidence that a fight went on. Miyu knew that Ethan could use ice magic and he only did so in fights. Carefully climbing out of the window, she slid down the roof and landed on the ground below, rolling forward as she landed. Springing back up onto her feet, she followed the trail of mana that was left with Panzerglaive's help. She eventually ended up at an abandoned lot across the street. Signs of the skirmish were evident there as well. After a few seconds, she spotted something that made her gasp: the imprint of a large gear in the ground.

"W-What... Don't tell me... D-Did she attack Ethan too..?" Miyu dropped to her knees and dug her fingers into the dirt. It took a lot of willpower to stop herself from crying. Getting to her feet, she balled her hands into fists. "That woman... I'm going to make sure I bring her down myself..."

Getting up, Miyu brushed the dirt off of her knees and continued on her morning jog like usual. She planned to stop by Cranagan's Medical Center later to see if Ethan checked in there overnight.

**10:34 AM**

**Cranagan**

**Cranagan Medical Center**

"I'm sorry, but no one named Ethan Colbert has been checked into our facilities last night." the woman behind the desk at the hospital stated as she was reviewing recent records.

"Really? Darn... That means he really /did/ go missing after that..." Miyu whispered with a sigh. "I'm sorry for wasting your time ma'am. It's just... official TSAB business." Giving a small nod to the woman, Miyu headed out of the building and walked down the street towards her home. She didn't feel like going to school, but she knew she had to, even though she was already late for it by more than an hour. She wasn't dressed for it either. Miyu still had on her jogging clothes from earlier. After realizing this, she started jogging all the way home. Once she arrived home, she took a quick shower and changed into her school uniform. Letting out a soft sigh, Miyu headed out of the front door and made her way to the train station. The train didn't arrive for another hour, so she sat down waiting until it came.

**12:49 AM**

**St. Hilde Academy of Magic**

Miyu arrived at St. Hilde after an hour long train ride, though it didn't seem that long to her since she kept thinking about Ethan. Once she got inside of the building, she quickly and quietly made her way into class and sat down at her seat. The teacher seemed too into his lecture to have noticed her. As Miyu was sitting, Ayase whispered to her.

"Miyu, why are you late for class today?"

"I'll tell you later." Miyu replied, sighing softly. "A lot has happened since I got up this morning…"

"Okay. Luckily for you, Dr. Crusoe is talking about his expeditions again." Ayase commented jokingly.

"Mm... so what did I miss today so far?" Miyu asked.

"Not much, really." Ayase answered.

"Okay." Miyu nodded.

"Oops. Looks like I have cut into your guy's lunchtime. I apologize and class is dismissed." Dr. Crusoe replied apologetically after realizing that he should have released the class fifty minutes ago.

"Well then..." Miyu blinked, getting up out of her seat. Ayase did the same. While the two left the classroom, they overheard a couple of girls talking about how their favorite Idol would be having an autograph session in a few hours, causing them to start squealing uncontrollably.

"What's that about?" Miyu asked Ayase.

"They are definitely referring to Angelica." Ayase replied as she settled down under a tree which was located in a quiet part of the school grounds.

"Is it bad that I've never heard of her before?"

"Not really, Miyu. You don't seem to be the type of person that who would pay attention to mainstream media." Ayase replied with a sly smile.

"The only thing I've been paying attention to was how hard I could punch things since I was nine."

"I noticed that. Anyways, what is so important that you have to tell me in private?" Ayase asked curiously as she looked at her friend.

"I wasn't here on time because as I went out on a morning jog, I decided that I'd drop off the fourth ticket at Ethan's house... but when I got there, his room was trashed and little bits of mana were everywhere. I followed the trail of mana until I came to an abandoned lot, where an imprint of a gear was... Ethan was attacked by that woman sometime last night. I headed to the hospital a few hours later to see if he checked himself in there, but he didn't. So... he's missing now."

"She is definitely ramping up on the amount of attacks. What is her purpose for attacking people?" Ayase replied in a serious tone.

"I honestly have no idea." Miyu shook her head, leaning back against the trunk of the tree. "But each attack makes her more and more of a threat..."

"All we can do now is to wait until she screw up and then we can arrest her." Ayase suggested.

"I want to ask previous victims about her first." Miyu stated.

"Well, the only victim we have is your father. I got to say, Miyu. You are getting obsessed over this whole incident." Ayase jabbed verbally at Miyu.

"Well... yeah. It's become personal to me."

"You should learn to keep your emotions out of your work. That is the first thing you need to be an Enforcer. If you let your emotion control you, you will end up doing something stupid." Ayase replied calmly.

"I guess." Miyu inclined her head slightly and looked up at the sun.

"Well, let's start off by trying to track down Ethan. We need to go to the scene where it happened. We have plenty of time since our last class is Magic Combat." Ayase replied calmly after checking the time on her watch.

"And how would we go about doing that?" Miyu asked as she glanced over at Ayase.

"Follow the mana trail that Ethan and the mysterious girl left behind. Both participants would have released a long lasting mana trail in the direction they were heading after the battle." Ayase replied calmly.

"I think she would've teleported though… Ethan though… I have no idea."

"Even if a person teleports, they still leave a small amount of mana in the area around which makes it somewhat easier to track them down." Ayase explained calmly as she check her phone. "Looks like Magic Combat class is cancelled for the day. The teacher called in sick." Ayase added with a smile. "Let's go, Miyu. I want you to take me to the abandoned lot."

"Alright." Miyu nodded, pushing herself off of the tree.

"Also, I promised Angelica that I hang out with her today." Ayase added as she and Miyu headed to the train station.

"You can go ahead and do that after we get done at the lot."

"I can't wait to see how much mana is still left in the area." Ayase commented seriously as she sat down on her seat on the train.

"Why?" Miyu questioned as she sat next to Ayase.

"The more mana there is, the easier it is for us to track down Ethan and the mysterious girl." Ayase explained calmly as she ran her hand through her dark green hair

"I see." Miyu nodded.

"Tell me the condition of Ethan's house." Ayase requested.

"His room is completely trashed. Patches of ice are all over his backyard."

"Sounds like a battle took place there. What was the condition of the abandoned lot?" Ayase asked

"There was a large imprint of a gear in the ground."

"Hmm. Besides that, were there any other signs of damage?" Ayase asked.

"I don't think she would've been using super-powerful attacks."

"That's is not the point I am driving at. If Ethan was forced against his will, there would be more damage to the whole abandoned lot. I need to actually see the lot before I make any more conclusions." Ayase replied seriously.

"I don't remember much because I was there around 6AM."

"I see."

"We'll just see when we get there."

"I got to ask. How close were you to Ethan?" Ayase asked as she looked at Miyu.

"He was my childhood friend. My mom... used to take me up to the Church from time to time when I was little. Ethan was being raised by the Church at the time... so I used to play with him whenever I went up there with her. He was an orphan taken in by them and there weren't really that many kids that he wanted to interact with... but he liked me for some reason."

"I see. Miyu, I'll say this right now. You are starting to get too emotionally attached to this entire case." Ayase replied frankly as she looked at Miyu seriously.

"People who I care about are getting involved."

"I know that but a cruel reality about being an Enforcer is that you need to emotionally distance yourself when the case involves family and friends. You need to be objective and calm." Ayase replied with a sigh.

"Yeah yeah..." Miyu mumbled.

"Trust me, Miyu. I want to stop thinking about the case for one day. You'll see how much clearer your mind works." Ayase suggested

"My new morning jogs help me clear my mind. It's just... that happened."

"That's a good sign. Well, let's head to the abandoned lot." Ayase said as she got up after the train pulled into Cranagan Central Station.

"Yeah…" Miyu nodded as she got up and followed.

**2:09PM**

**Cranagan**

**Abandoned Lot near Ethan's House**

After a short walk, the two arrived at the abandoned lot that was a few blocks away from Ethan's house. All of the evidence was all still there; the craters, ice, trenches, the imprint. Everything. "Well… here we are." Miyu stated as she stepped onto the lot.

"Okay time to see what I can make out from the scene." Ayase said quietly as she put on a pair of black fingerless gloves. Ayase then began walking around the scene while making mental notes of various things. After 10 minutes of checking out the scene, Ayase quietly walked up to edge of one of the craters and stopped. Ayase then took a deep breath before closing her eyes and extending her right arm out. Miyu watched her silently, keeping a mental note of her investigation techniques. "Almighty winds. Hear my plea. Show me the secrets that you hold." Ayase recited calmly as a Sylphian magic circle appeared a couple inches from her right palm. The wind in the area soon stopped moving as if it was listening to her. A few seconds later, purple mana specks and small crystals of ice that were in the air became visible to both Ayase and Miyu.

"Woah..." Miyu was amazed at what just happened.

"You see, Miyu. The air around the battlezone does hold it secrets." Ayase replied after opening her eyes and smiling.

"Do you see a trail leading off anywhere else?" Miyu asked as she looked around the area.

"They both end here." Ayase replied as she followed the trail the wind revealed to the edge of the abandoned lot where it stopped. Ayase motioned for Miyu to come over afterwards. Miyu walked up next to her and she looked up at the sky.

"I also sense a lot of mana in this area, Miyu. That means that a teleportation spell was used here. I also know that at least two people were teleported somewhere due to how concentrated the mana is."

"Do you think Ethan was forced to go along?"

"Considering how straight the mana lines and the ice crystal lines are, it is unlikely. If Ethan was forced to come along, I would have seen ice crystals scattered all over the place." Ayase answered honestly.

"Do you think she knocked him out?"

"I can't be sure. At least the scene gave us a lot of information to work on." Ayase replied as she summoned a ball of wind energy, then she ordered it to track down both the mana trail and the ice crystal trail."

"Who knows where they could be now..."

Well, that wind energy ball will track down the location of the other teleport portal and follow the trail from there." Ayase explained with a smile before resting her hand on Miyu's shoulder.

"There's one thing that's bugging me about this though…"

"What is bugging you, Miyu?" Ayase asked worriedly.

"How did she get inside of his house?"

"She could have teleported inside the house." Ayase replied.

"Now that I think about it... her attacks seem sort of coordinated."

"She seems to be attacking specific people. She seems to be very mission oriented and she seems precise in her planning. The only thing she didn't factor in in your case was that you had backup." Ayase explained as she thought about it.

"Yeah. You just showed up by chance."

"Actually, the building I was on top of is my favorite spot. I had just finished Parkouring and decided to take a break there when I saw you get attacked." Ayase explained calmly.

"Let's see... she attacked my father... then me... then Ethan... who could be next?"

"My guess is that she would attack either me or your mother. Miyu, you should report this incident to your mother." Ayase replied.

"And I doubt she'd go after you since you sort of drove her off... so my mother's our best bet." Miyu nodded.

"Well, we need to warn your mother just in case. We also need to be on high alert." Ayase replied calmly as she stared at Miyu seriously.

"I'll contact her." Miyu established a link with her mother and a screen appeared in front of her in the air. "Mom!"

"I'm cleaning the house right now. What's up?"

"I'll be right home. I have to tell you something very important."

"Alright. I'll see you then." Tsugumi replied with a smile as the screen disappeared.

"And you," Miyu pointed to Ayase, "have an Idol friend to get to."

"Don't worry about it. I am going to meet up with her at 4 PM so I got plenty of time." Ayase replied with a chuckle. "Anyways, I need to ask about the Sylphian Archer that attacked us."

"Ask who?"

"Your mother." Ayase replied calmly.

"What did she do?"

"My mom told me that your mother interrogated the Sylphian Archer and that I should go to her if I have any questions." Ayase replied innocently.

"Oh! Okay." Miyu nodded.

"Let's get going, Miyu." Ayase suggested as she turned around and walked off the abandoned lot.

"I'll show you part of my jogging route on the way."

"Okay." Ayase replied as she stretched herself out.

"Maybe you could come and jog with me one morning. Well... that's if you don't mind waking up around fiveish."

"I don't mind. I usually get up at 4 AM to make breakfast for my mom." Ayase replied cheerfully.

"I trust that you make sure to make her breakfast very yummy?" Miyu smirked.

"I always make the best breakfast I can for my mother. It's the best I can do for her. I couldn't have gotten this far without her." Ayase replied as she smiled happily.

"Of course." Miyu was silent for a moment. "Though, I still have yet to see how she fights."

"Be prepared for a tribrid fighting style." Ayase replied calmly as Miyu and Ayase walk towards Miyu's house.

"A what?" Miyu asked, confused.

"She combines three different fighting disciplines into one." Ayase explained as she chuckled slightly.

"Sounds awesome!" Miyu chirped. "Maybe one day when I'm a higher rank in the TSAB I could spar her."

"Sure. She won't go easy on you. I should warn you." Ayase replied with a smile on her face.

"I know. That's why I have to prepare myself."

"She didn't go easy on me and I am her daughter." Ayase answered with a chuckle.

"You never go easy on anyone either."

"Well, I need to do that so I can reassure my mother that I can take care of myself in any situation." Ayase replied frankly.

"That's good."

"Looks like we are near your house, Miyu." Ayase commented as she and Miyu turned onto the street where Miyu's house was.

"Right. Let's go..." Miyu nodded, heading towards the front door.


	7. Chapter 7 - Incidents

**July 24th**

**2:34PM**

**Cranagan**

**Mayuzumi Residence**

"Mom! I'm home!" Miyu called out as she entered through the front door of her house.

"Come join me in the Living Room!" Miyu's mother replied from the couch. Miyu briefly smiled at Ayase before the two headed into the room, where Miyu's mother was reading over a report. The woman smiled sweetly at the two as she put the papers down on the small table in front of her. "So. What news did you want to tell me about?" she asked.

"Alright. Mom. Ayase and I have discovered a pattern in the attacking strategy of that woman who attacked Dad. After she attacked Dad, she attacked me…" she paused for a moment. "But don't worry about that. Ayase came along and scared her off. Anyways… after that, she went after Ethan. That happened sometime last night. Now, he's missing. We're thinking that she took him along with her. That's where the pattern became obvious to us. She is attacking everyone that has some sort of close relationship to this family. We don't know why yet. But… from that evidence, we've came up with two conclusions. She will either attack you or Ayase next. We've already ruled out the chances of her attacking Ayase… since she's probably aiming to go after easy targets so she can get more energy for the thing she uses. It's a Lost Logia that can drain the Linker Cores of mages and store that energy inside of it so it can give a big power boost to its owner so… she's probably going to go after you next. We're warning you right now."

"Well… that's troublesome…" Tsugumi mumbled quietly, letting out a soft sigh and adjusting her glasses. "So what should I do about it?"

"You could either stay at the TSAB Main Office for a while or have someone come and be a bodyguard." Miyu replied with a nod.

"I really wouldn't mind either… but thanks for the warning." Tsugumi replied with a smile. "Are you two hungry? I can make some snacks."

"Actually, Ayase wanted to talk to you about something." Miyu stated.

"That so?" Tsugumi looked over at Ayase and smiled.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Kirisaki. My mother told me that you personally interrogated the Sylphian Archer that attacked us a couple days ago. My mother also told me to come to you if I have any questions." Ayase replied formally as she bowed respectfully.

"So I'm guessing you have some questions about it then?" Tsugumi asked.

"Yes, ma'am. I have a personal interest in what this Sylphian Archer told you." Ayase replied calmly.

"Well-" Tsugumi began, but she was cut off by Miyu.

"Um, while you two talk, I'm going to head to the bakery right quick. I want to see if I can get a box of those donut holes that I really like…" Miyu mumbled quietly.

"Alright. Go ahead." Tsugumi replied with a smile. Miyu gave her mother a small nod before jogging out of the front door. The bakery was located only a few buildings down from the grocery store. After the ten minute walk there, she headed inside and got in line. There were eleven people ahead of her. Miyu loved the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries. When she was little, her parents always got her a box of chocolate donut holes whenever she accomplished something big in her magic training. They became a sort of luxury to her. After about thirteen minutes, the people ahead of her had all gotten their baked goods and they stepped out of line after each purchase. Miyu stepped up to the register and smiled at man behind the register. He had a pudgy face but a hearty smile.

"Hello Mr. Riley."

"Hello there Miyu. How are you today?" Mr. Riley replied.

"Good. I'm here today to see if you have those chocolate doughnut holes that my parents always buy..?"

"Luckily for you, I just made a fresh batch." Mr. Riley grinned as he briefly walked into the back, bringing back a small box of them. "There are twenty four inside."

"Thank you." Miyu smiled widely and took some money out of her pockets. "Here. I kind of… memorized the cost from looking at the receipts so much." she outstretched her hand and handed the money to Mr. Riley.

"Have a nice day. Tell your parents I said hi." Mr. Riley waved goodbye to Miyu as she took the box of donut holes and turned towards the door.

"I will!" Miyu called as she ran out of the door. She immediately began walking towards a place to sit underneath a tree nearby, occasionally eating a donut hole once and awhile. Miyu settled down underneath the shade of the tree and sighed softly. After a few minutes of sitting, realization struck her. "While I'm out… I should see if Mom wants anything." Quickly calling her mother, Miyu smiled once the screen displaying her mother's face appeared in front of her. "Hey. Um… since I'm out, do you want me to bring anything for you?"

"Not at the moment, but thank you for asking."

"Alright…" Miyu was about to cut the connection, but her mother interrupted her.

"Ayase left a few minutes ago and someone else stopped by."

"Hm? Who else came by?"

"Ethan." Tsugumi replied.

"...Ethan? But… I thought he got kidnapped! Why was he there?" Miyu asked frantically, dropping a donut hole she was about to eat to the ground.

"He's still here. He's just sitting at the kitchen table. I had to run upstairs to put my papers away. I don't know why he's here exactly, but he doesn't look injured at all or troubled. He's just being quiet as normal." Tsugumi replied as she headed back downstairs.

"That's really strange… no one just comes back after being kidnapped…" Miyu mumbled to herself.

"You should hurry home soon! I'm sure he'd be glad to see y-" the screen in front of Miyu suddenly disappeared and the color drained from her face.

"If Ethan's at my house…" she suddenly cut herself off mid-sentence and went wide eyed. "This is bad! Panzerglaive, let's go!" Panzerglaive materialized itself onto her left arm and flashed.

"Yes sir."

Miyu activated Monsoon Drive and ran home as quickly as she could.

**4:01PM**

**Mayuzumi Residence**

"Ethan!" Miyu yelled as she burst through the front door of her house. Looking around frantically, she ran into the kitchen, where Ethan was crouching over her mother, who was out cold on the floor. Gritting her teeth, Miyu glared at her friend. Ethan noticed her come in and looked back over his shoulder at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Why are you here?! You got kidnapped by that woman last night didn't you? And what did you do to my mom?!" Miyu yelled.

"Her? I just knocked her out." Ethan replied with an unsettling calmness.

"Why?" Miyu asked, growling.

"If I told you the reason why, you'd try to stop me." Ethan replied as he rose to his feet.

"What…" Miyu noticed a small gear hovering in the air next to Ethan. "Are you working with that woman now? Don't you know how dangerous the Gear of Judgement is?!"

"I do, but why would I decline something that is offering me the power that I always wanted on a silver platter?" Ethan asked as the gear settled itself around his wrist. This caused Miyu to clench her fists. She was on the verge of losing control of her anger.

"You idiot! That thing… it hurts people just to fulfill someone's selfish lust! You're a knight aren't you? You're supposed to be valiant and chivalrous! What is this "bad guy" act? It doesn't suit you… it doesn't suit you at all!"

"Honestly… You're getting on my nerves now. The Witch told me that you wouldn't be home for awhile… but this certainly is unexpected. Now that you're here I know that you won't let me take your mother's energy without a fight. I wanted to avoid confronting you… but I guess it's inevitable now." Ethan replied with a soft sigh. Holding out his right hand, his Device materialized in his hand: a large, black Claymore sword with light blue edges. Cryohunter.

"Of course! This is my family that you're hurting! My mom… she did nothing to deserve what that… that /thing/ does to people. It nearly killed my dad and now you're planning to use it on her? That's… unforgivable!" Miyu's Barrier Jacket appeared on her body and she eyed Ethan with a look of pure anger.

"I wanted to make it as painless as possible so I knocked her out. I have my orders and I plan to carry them out… even if that means having to take you out of the picture for a while." Ethan's Barrier Jacket appeared in a flash of light blue light. It was fashioned like a winter coat with a furry-white trim and a similarly fashioned hood and arm holes. The coat was covering up a dark blue shirt. There were several belts wrapped around certain areas of the coat and his pants. His boots had a furry trim as well and they were laced up with dark blue strings. Ethan pointed his sword at Miyu and took a deep breath. "If we're going to fight… let's take it to a place where it won't inconvenience anyone except ourselves." Miyu just gave a small nod and she placed her box of donut holes on the counter. She refused to take her eyes off of him. A light blue Belkan magic circle appeared underneath the two of them and they were transported to the abandoned lot near Ethan's house. "Gear Fragment." The small gear around Ethan's wrist unattached itself from his arm and hovered in the air in front of him. "Dislocate this place from space. Create a spacious battlefield, an empty field."

Ethan's Gear Fragment rotated to where it was facing the sky and a large barrier swamped the entire empty lot. It created a small pocket dimension in the area. Anyone outside that happened to cross into the lot would find nothing there.

"Ethan… I'm going to beat some sense into you…" Miyu stated, her eyes fierce. She looked as if she was trying to burn her gaze into Ethan's soul. Ethan just shrugged off the feeling and flew into the air.

"Sorry, but I won't let you. I know that you are weak against Aerial Mages. I won't make this a fair fight. Maybe in another situation I would… but I have to put you out of commission quickly." he replied coldly as he pointed his sword at Miyu. A Belkan magic circle appeared in the air next to him and a bright, sky blue beam shot out of it at Miyu.

Miyu quickly dived out of the way and quickly got back up to her feet. "You coward!" she yelled up at Ethan. Ethan narrowed his eyes and raised his hand into the air.

"Hailstorm: Frozen Rain." Hundreds of light blue mana bullets appeared in the air above him and he sent them raining down upon Miyu, just like hail.

"Sentinel Defenser." Panzerglaive stated as Miyu's hexagonal forcefield spell appeared around her. Once the rain of bullets stopped, Miyu dispersed the barrier. As soon as Ethan saw the barrier go down, he formed a spear of ice next to him in the air and threw it down at Miyu. He followed up with another beam shot from a Belkan circle. Miyu quickly dived out of the way of the spear, but the beam came right for her. She quickly threw her arm up in time to form a quick Protection barrier, but the force of impact sent her sliding back on her feet for a few feet. A magic circle appeared in the air in front of Ethan and he swung his hand out at it.

"Cryo-Smasher." A large, spear-shaped magical beam shot out of the magic circle. It hit the ground in front of Miyu and sent her flying back and into the air. Tsking quietly, she changed Panzerglaive into its Discharge form and pointed it at Ethan.

"Joust Shift!" A red mana spear shot out of the crossbow-shaped Panzerglaive on the back of her hand, speeding right for Ethan. Ethan quickly spun out of the way and flew towards Miyu. Cryohunter began glowing a neon blue and he started swinging it rapidly, large shockwaves being emitted. Miyu quickly threw up a Sentinel Defenser as one of the shockwaves reached her. The others thudded into the surrounding earth, causing large incisions to be cut in the ground. The shockwave that connected with her forcefield began piercing through it and Miyu went wide eyed. Quickly undeploying it, she jumped into the air and the shockwave hit the ground in front of her. Once she landed again, she spotted Ethan swooping towards her. Swinging his hand to the side, two Belkan circles appeared next to him on his right and left.

"Icy Needles." he whispered. Needles of ice began shooting out of the circles and Miyu tried to protect herself against them. As soon as she summoned a Round Shield, the needles bounced off of the shield. Ethan did not change his flight path, however. He flew over Miyu's head and fired off the needles at her exposed back. She managed to throw up another shield in time, but not before one managed to embed itself in her arm. Miyu winced slightly as she saw ice beginning to form on her exposed skin. Quickly reaching over, she pulled the needle out of her arm and threw it to the ground.

"That hurt…" she mumbled as she rubbed her arm. Miyu spotted Ethan hovering about twenty meters above her, several different sized and shaped blades of mana appearing in the air around him. "That's his Blade Rain…" Miyu hissed. Once Ethan finished the formation, he swung his sword downward at Miyu, causing the blades to rain down upon her like rockets. Miyu threw up yet another Sentinel Defenser and growled. "He's really doing it… Ethan you coward…" she mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Sir." Panzerglaive attempted to get her attention.

"What?" Miyu asked. "I don't really have time to talk right now."

"A Barrier Jacket upgrade would be recommended for this situation." Panzerglaive suggested.

"An upgrade..?" Miyu asked quietly, her voice trailing off. "I'm listening."

"To upgrade your Barrier Jacket, think of what would be most helpful to you and I will try hard to manifest it." Panzerglaive stated.

"Right… The only way I can beat Ethan in this state is if I could fly…" Miyu closed her eyes and imagined a Barrier Jacket mode that allows her to fly.

"Barrier Jacket: Reactor Form!" Panzerglaive announced. Miyu's body became briefly cloaked in a red light and the small white and red jacket she was wearing disappeared. The sides of her shoes gained engine-like add-ons to both sides of her feet.

"Sweet…" Miyu grinned as she looked down at her shoes.

"The Reactor form has a seven minute time limit. After the time limit is up, the normal Barrier Jacket will be immediately equipped." Panzerglaive warned Miyu.

"Got it." Miyu replied with a nod.

"Come on Miyu. Come out of that forcefield so I can finish you off." Ethan urged.

"One moment…" Smirking as the engine-like add-ons lit up with a neon red light, Miyu dispelled her forcefield, immediately flying into the air at Ethan. Going wide eyed, Ethan quickly summoned a Tri-Shield. Miyu's fist connected with the shield and she laughed. "Hey! This flying stuff is pretty fun!" Ethan narrowed his eyes at her and he quickly slashed his sword at Miyu's torso. Miyu immediately reached her right hand over and blocked it with a small Protection barrier that appeared in front of her hand, then she flew up into the air. It took a few seconds, but she steadied herself into a standing position. "But it's pretty difficult since I've never done it before."

"Why are you flying?" Ethan asked coldly, keeping his gaze on her.

"Didn't you know about Barrier Jacket upgrades?" Miyu asked in a teasing manner.

"I see. That's what happened…" Ethan nodded. "Even so, you're still new at it so you won't be able to out maneuver me!" Ethan flew right at her with his sword raised high. Miyu charged right at him with her fist pulled back. At the last second, she dipped off to the side slightly and avoided a sword slice from him. Ethan immediately turned over and pointed his hand at her. "Einfrieren: The Path to the Temple of Ice!" he yelled as two flat spears of ice quickly shot out from underneath him and they homed in on Miyu.

"So now he's going for those powerful attacks…" Miyu mumbled as she flew in the opposite direction of him. She had absolutely no idea of what to do in a dog fight, so she had to improvise somehow. Miyu quickly dipped downwards and flew right for the ground, the spears still continuing to follow her. She quickly peeked behind her to see how close they were when an arch made of ice suddenly appeared in a few meters front of her. The arch began glowing and shot an arc-shaped blast of Miyu. Since she was distracted, it hit her head on, sending her flying backwards and right towards the spears. Miyu had to do some quick thinking to avoid getting caught by them. She immediately angled herself vertically and passed right through the spears, each only grazing her Barrier Jacket slightly. Miyu crashed into the ground hard on her shoulder, causing a small trench to be left in her wake.

"See? What did I tell you?" Ethan asked as he landed on the ground a few feet away from her. "The air is my territory Miyu. You can't beat me there."

"You've become so arrogant…" Miyu grumbled as she rolled over onto her back, sitting up slowly. She gently placed her hand on her shoulder and rotated it back and forward. "That actually hurt a little… but it wasn't much. Maybe you really are a C rank." she smirked. Ethan glared at her with hatred and a Belkan magic circle appeared underneath her.

"You are in no position to be making insults… You're at my mercy now…" Icy chains shot out of the ground and bound Miyu by her arms and her ankles, pulling her back down onto her back. "I'm going to become strong with the help of the Gear." Ethan mumbled as he summoned a large block of ice in the air above Miyu. "So you go ahead and just lay down now… alright?" A large frown appeared on Miyu's face, then she smiled, beginning to laugh slightly. "Hm? Are you going insane in the face of your defeat?" Ethan asked as a cocky smirk appeared on his lips.

"Hah… What are you talking about? 'I'm going to become strong with the help of the Gear.' That's nothing but nonsense. If you rely on some Lost Logia to make yourself stronger…" Miyu pulled against the restraints holding her down and the chains broke a few seconds later. Afterwards, she climbed to her feet. Alarmed, Ethan quickly dropped the block of ice on top of her. Miyu smiled again and pointed her left arm up at the ice block. A tree sized tornado came out of Panzerglaive and it carried the block of ice high into the air. Miyu immediately charged another attack for a second, which was Aero Torpedo, and she fired it at the ice block, causing it to explode. "Then you don't deserve the strength in the first place!"

A red chain shot out of a magic circle in front of Miyu and it wrapped itself around Ethan. Miyu tugged on the chain and pulled Ethan towards her, then she punched him hard in the face. Afterwards, she knocked him to the ground with her other arm as the chains disappeared. Immediately jumping into the air, she performed an elbow slam on Ethan's stomach, which caused him to cry out in pain. Miyu quickly seized him by the front of his Barrier Jacket and flung him over her head and to the ground, hard. Ethan slid across the ground and climbed onto his hands and knees after a few seconds. He coughed a few times before wiping his mouth.

"I refuse… to lose to you here… Not now… I can't fail… The Gear-" he began, but

Miyu walked up to him and grabbed him by his head, slamming the side of it into the ground before he could finish speaking...

"...Shut up. I'm tired of hearing you talk about that dumb Gear…"

"You don't understand what it's like… You don't understand… at… all…" Ethan muttered quietly as a magic circle appeared underneath him. Miyu went wide eyed and she quickly jumped backwards as an aura made of very large mana blades appeared around Ethan., which all shot off in different directions after a few seconds. Miyu quickly flew into the air to avoid getting hit. Ethan slowly rose to his feet and glared at Miyu with a look of pure malice. "You'll never understand…"

"Understand what? That you're just some jealous little boy that gets upset when someone's stronger than him? That's a trashy way of thinking. What kind of knight are you? 'The Knight of Uselessness'? That's exactly what you're making me think. Your strength comes from your own knowledge and training, not from some stupid item!" Miyu yelled down at him. Ethan glared at her and held Cryohunter out to the side, the blade glowing light blue.

"Sword of Frozen Conquest aura… Equip." A large mana sword blade surrounded Ethan's own and he flew into the air above Miyu. "Walpurgis: Evil Slayer..." he stated in a hushed whisper. Pointing the blade at Miyu, a large beam was fired from it at the tip. Miyu quickly surrounded herself with a Sentinel Defenser and the beam connected with it. Miyu could feel the immense amount of mana that Ethan put into the attack. After a few seconds, cracks began appearing in the forcefield.

"H-Hold on for just a little bit longer…" she hissed between clenched teeth. After a few seconds, the attack ended and she dispelled the barrier. The area around her was completely obliterated. Panting heavily, Miyu flexed her fingers and let out a heavy sigh. "That was a close call…" Quickly glancing in Ethan's direction, she noticed that he was only a few feet away from her.

Ethan swung his blade downwards at her with great force and Miyu only managed to barely throw up a Protection, but the force sent her crashing into the ground. Ethan followed up by summoning a lance of ice into his hands and he charged at Miyu with it. Barely having time to react, Miyu activated Velocity Blazer and zipped off to the side, causing the lance to get embedded in the ground. Narrowing his eyes, Ethan let go of it. and softly landed on the ground. Closing his eyes, he converted Cryohunter into its Frost Twin form. It had the appearance of two midnight-black, arrowhead shaped blades connected to his arms by chains. Miyu unsteadily rose to her feet and touched the side of her head. It was bleeding slightly.

"He's entered a bloodlust mode…" Miyu mumbled as she converted Panzerglaive back into its Panzer form. "If I don't stop him now, he'll really put me down… I don't have much in my arsenal, but close combat is my best skill. If I can get him in close… I'll take him out from there." Ethan looked over and spotted Miyu over to his left and he flew right at her. Swinging his arms forward, his chain blades shot right at her. Miyu reached out and grabbed the chains of the blades and pulled Ethan right towards her. Once he was within a few centimeters, she punched him right on the top of the head, causing him to dive face first into the ground. Miyu flew over him and landed on the ground behind him, looking down at Panzerglaive. "Alright… it's now or never. Panzerglaive, activate the A.C.S. system…" Miyu mumbled.

"Yes sir." Panzerglaive replied, two fins popping out of both sides of her iron glove. Miyu used Velocity Blazer to fly straight up into the air. Coming to a halt, she stopped forty meters above Ethan. Ethan was recovering from the blow. Shakily getting to his feet, he converted Cryohunter back into its Claymore form and unsteadily flew up into the air after Miyu. Grasping his sword with both hands, he sped up and flew right at her with the intent to pierce through her.

"A.C.S… Full Force!" Miyu yelled out as she jetted right towards Ethan with blinding speed. Ethan, caught off guard, stopped briefly to try to avoid, but Miyu slammed her fist right into his stomach. Without letting up, she began driving him right towards the ground. Once they got within two meters of the ground, she gave one more push and launched him right into the dirt with enough impact force to leave a crater. Miyu flipped over the crater in the air and landed unsteadily on the other side of it. Once the dust cleared, she saw that Ethan was lying there motionless. She'd knocked him out. Smiling slightly, she walked down into the crater to check on him. Suddenly, Ethan's Gear Fragment detached itself from his wrist and shot a small blast at Miyu, knocking her down for a moment. The Fragment quickly created a transport circle around Ethan and teleported him out of the area. With his sudden absence, the dislocation wore off and Miyu was back in the abandoned lot. The evidence of the battle they just had was there too. Miyu laughed quietly to herself and flew up into the air. "I… think I won! Woo! And I can fly now!" she cheered as she began flying in circles.

"The Reactor Form has timed out. Reverting back to normal functions…" Panzerglaive suddenly announced. Going wide eyed, Miyu let out a gasp as her Barrier Jacket went back to its normal form, causing her to fall towards the earth at an alarming speed. 'N-Not good!' she screamed in her mind.

"Kieru hikoukigumo bokutachi wa miokutta." a voice sang in a heavenly fashion. Suddenly, a bright Mint Green mana circle appeared below Miyu and broke her fall.

"E-Eh?" Miyu looked around frantically. "Who just…"

"Miyu. What just happened here?" Ayase asked seriously as she walked up to Miyu with Windstrider deployed.

"I-I just fought Ethan..." she replied, still a bit shocked.

"Looks like he has gone rogue on us." Ayase commented as a black haired girl with dark green eyes walked up behind her with a microphone in her right hand. Miyu noticed that she was wearing what she makes out to be an Idol outfit.

"Yeah..." Miyu nodded, noticing the other girl. "Hm? Who's this?"

"She is my friend, Angelica "Aria" Scarlet." Ayase explained as she motioned to Angelica. Angelica quickly responded by smiling and waving at Miyu.

"Hello." Miyu smiled, but then she winced.

"Are you alright, Miyu?" Ayase asked curiously as extended her hand to Miyu.

"I'm dizzy..." she replied, indicating to the bloody gash on the side of her head.

"Let me handle this, Ayase." Angelica replied calmly as she walked up next to Miyu. Angelica smiled at Miyu before raising the microphone in front of her lips.

"What are you doing?" Miyu asked.

"Holy Spirit of Life. Please hear the plea of the injured. Come forth and use your light to make the world whole once more." Angelica recited happily, which caused a radiant white mana circle to appear beneath Miyu's feet. The mana circle released a healing white light which healed all of Miyu's injuries.

"W-Woah..." Miyu went wide-eyed.

"How do you feel now, Miyu?" Angelica asked caringly as she helped Miyu up.

"Much better."

"In case you are wondering, I am the Angelica that Ayase talks about." Angelica replied cheerfully as her microphone glowed before turning into a silver bracelet around her left wrist.

"Oh! Nice to meet you." Miyu stated with a smile.

"Miyu. How is your mom doing?" Ayase asked seriously as she took out her PDA and activated its scanner.

"She was doing fine before we left." Miyu replied.

"Let's go check up on her." Ayase suggested calmly as she readied Windstrider and loaded a mana arrow.

"Right." Miyu nodded.

"I got your back." Angelica replied determinedly as she cautiously followed behind Ayase and Miyu.


	8. EXTRAChapter 1 - That One Girl

**July 24th**

**8:30AM**

**Northern Mid-Childa**

**Fraumeni Residence**

"It's time to wake up, Master."

The sun was shining brightly on the normal Thursday morning in the Franunei household. Since it was a weekday, it was time for the only teenager living there to get ready for school. At the wakeup call of her Device Nemesis, she slipped out from under her purple and black plaid comforter and picked her Device up, slipping it onto her wrist. She also put a silver bangle on.

"Good morning Master." Nemesis stated.

"Good morning," Hailey replied. "Are you ready for another day?"

"Of course."

"Great." With a grin, Hailey headed over to her wardrobe and pulled out her St. Hilde school uniform along with a few other clothing items. Walking over to the door, she opened it quietly and headed down the hallway to the bathroom, passing by her parents' room in the process. She heard faint whispers coming from the room. They were probably discussing things relating to her.

Hailey quickly entered the bathroom and placed her clothes on the sink. Afterwards, she took a nice, long bath. The previous night, she had to do some pretty serious work with her magic for a task she was given so she was glad to have some time to relax. After a few minutes, she finally got out of the bath and got dressed. She took a moment to tie her midnight black hair into two long twintails before heading out of the bathroom**. **Hailey let out a soft sigh as she walked downstairs and went into the kitchen.

"Hmm… Looks like I'll have to make myself breakfast again." she mumbled to herself as she took a peek inside of the fridge. There wasn't much to choose from, so she decided to just make toast for the time being. Reaching inside of the fridge, she pulled out the stick of butter and walked over to the kitchen counter, setting it down there. She immediately picked up the bread afterwards and took out two slices. Hailey was just finishing popping them into the toaster when her parents entered the room.

"Good morning Hailey." her mother stated with a warm smile.

"Oh, good morning Mother." Hailey replied, giving her a small nod.

"Your father and I have something for you."

"What?" Hailey asked curiously, leaning back against the counter with her arms crossed. Her father crossed the room and held out a slip of paper in front of Hailey. Hailey took a glance at the paper and raised an eyebrow at her father. "What is this?"

"It's a ticket to a concert." he replied.

"And why are you giving this to me?" Hailey asked as she tucked it away in the pocket of her sweater vest.

"We want you to go out and enjoy yourself since you managed to do a good job last night." her mother stated softly as she positioned herself next to her husband.

"Of course I did… I had no reason not to." Hailey responded as her toast finished toasting in the toaster. Turning around, she pulled the two slices of bread out and placed them down on a plate. Opening a drawer next to her, she pulled out a butter knife and spread some butter onto the two pieces.

"We know. You're a hard worker. The concert takes place on Saturday." Hailey's father spoke plainly.

"Alright. I'll go and see it." Hailey responded as she took a bite out of one of the pieces of toast. No other words were exchanged afterwards and Hailey finished her breakfast in complete silence. Sliding her now empty plate into the sink, she quickly placed the butter back inside of the fridge and headed towards the front door. "I'm leaving now…" she mumbled quietly as she slipped her shoes on. Hailey opened the front door and stepped outside.

"Are we going to teleport to the school today Master?" Nemesis asked Hailey.

"Of course. It's faster than walking and I always want to be early." she replied. Hailey's family lived right around the border between Northern Mid-Childa and Central Mid-Childa, so walking wasn't much of an issue. Despite this, Hailey always prefered to teleport right to school since it was easier. Taking a deep breath, a magic circle appeared underneath her feet and she teleported herself right to the entrance of the school. "Nemesis, what time is it?" she asked.

"It is currently 8:45." Nemesis replied briskly.

"I still have some time before class starts…" Hailey murmured to herself as she looked over to her right, spotting a place to sit. Walking over, she took a seat there and waited for some time to pass. After about twenty minutes, she got up and headed into the school building. A lot of other students passed by while she was waiting some shying away from her if they caught her glance. People often thought that Hailey looked a bit… unsettling. Her eye that was not always hidden behind her bangs was a bright pinkish-purple color that seemed to glow, which contrasted against her hair color which was dark as the night. Anyone who knew she was watching them got a chill down their spine, like something bad was going to happen. Hailey did not mind the rumors though. She was used to them, she liked the isolation.

Hailey turned into her classroom and took her seat at the back of the room and glanced around the room. Of course, everyone else was busy in their own social groups and whatnot. Hailey brought her gaze to the front of the room and spotted a familiar looking green haired girl.

'That's the girl I fought during the first day during that combat training thing...' she thought to herself. 'She's certainly an interesting case though...' Suddenly, the teacher entered the classroom and Hailey directed her attention to him for awhile. Hailey's attention did not linger on him for long however. She began thinking about some things concerning the future. After awhile, the classroom door opened, which immediately drew her gaze over to it. She spotted another girl quickly zip into the classroom and sit next to the green-haired girl. Hailey noticed that the teacher did not seem to notice, causing her to sigh softly. "He's totally oblivious..." she mumbled to herself.

Returning her gaze to the two girls, Hailey began wondering about them. She knew the black haired girl was known as "The Iron Princess". There were always one or two rumors going around about her. 'They call her that though she does not appear to live up to that title... She seems more like a normal girl to me.' Hailey thought to herself.

After a few seconds, the bell signalling lunch rang and Hailey got out of her seat and headed towards the door. Walking to the front entrance, she pushed open the doors and stepped outside into the warm afternoon air. "I didn't bring a lunch or lunch money today..." she mumbled to herself. Hailey did not feel like going back home to get some money, so she decided to sit down underneath a tree and relax for awhile. She didn't find eating to ever be a priority for some reason.

"Nemesis?" she spoke up as she looked down at the band around her wrist.

"Yes Master?" it replied.

"What did you think about those two girls?"

"The green haired girl has good movement and is unique because she is an Archer. The other girl has obvious heart." Nemesis replied softly.

"I thought so too. I wish I knew their names... " Hailey replied with a smile. Glancing over at the school's entrance, she spotted the two girls she was just talking about leave the building. She followed them with her eyes over to a nearby tree, making sure she remained inconspicuous. Hailey watched them hold a conversation for a few seconds, then she decided to inch a bit closer so she could find out what they were talking about. She liked eavesdropping on people's conversations. She has done it so much that she learned how to read lips. Hailey continued to watch the two girls until she discovered something interesting. The two girls started heading away from the school and Hailey crouched down underneath her tree.

"...I need you to follow them." she whispered quietly. The silver bracelet next to Nemesis glowed briefly before a small section of it disappeared into thin air. Hailey let out a soft sigh before standing up again. Looking around, she brushed some stray grass off of her uniform and she headed back inside of the school. On the way back to the classroom, she bumped into the teacher. He informed her that Magic Combat class was cancelled for the day so school would release early. She only replied with a small nod and she headed past him. Hailey decided that she'd ditch for the rest of the day, so she went into the bathroom and teleported home. Her parents did not question her actions, since they assumed that she was just back for lunch. Hailey grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the counter and headed up to her room.

After quickly demolishing the apple, she slipped under her covers and slipped the bracelet off of her wrist. "Display: Segment One." she stated as an image appeared inside of the center of the bracelet. "So what are those two up to..." she mumbled to herself as the bracelet showed her a live feed of what the segment was seeing. This was the true nature of her "hobby". It was a serious intrusion of privacy.

She paid close attention to the image she was seeing for awhile until she let out a small sigh. "That was certainly an interesting thing to see..." she mumbled, smiling slightly. Sitting up straight, she closed her eyes. "Nemesis... Establish a link with the Second. Coding: AudioConnector, VideoReceiver"

"As you wish." Nemesis replied, a screen appearing in the air in front of Hailey, the image of a teenage boy appearing on it.

"Hello. What do you need?" he asked.

"Second. I need you to complete a cycle for me. Nemesis will send the specific instructions to you in a few moments. Make sure you do not skip a single bit of it." she stated in a serious tone.

"I understand." the other figure nodded. Hailey gave a nod in reply and gently ran her fingers through her hair.

"End Link." she commanded. The screen immediately disappeared and she laid back on her bed.

"Information sent." Nemesis declared, which made Hailey smile.

"Great..." she returned her gaze to her bracelet's display. "Nemesis, continue to update the information sent to Second as I relay it to you."

"As you wish." Nemesis responded. Hailey continued to give information to Nemesis until a large error message appeared over the display.

'Error. Not enough magic left in segment. Please return Segment 1 to Core to recharge...'

Sighing softly, Hailey closed her eyes. "Segment:PROTOCOL:ReturnActivation:1:1." she whispered, the segment returning to the bracelet after a few seconds.

"What now Master?" Nemesis asked in a curious tone.

"We'll just have to see if Second succeeds or not. I don't want to use another segment right now." Hailey replied, smiling lightly.

"Alright Master." Nemesis replied.

"Yes… our next step relies on him now… if he fails.. we move on to Plan B…"


	9. Chapter 8 - Check-Up

**July 24th**

**6:00 PM**

**Cranagan**

**Mayuzumi Residence**

"Ayase. Miyu. I got a bad feeling about this." Angelica whispered as she followed Ayase and

Miyu into Miyu's house. Ayase and Angelica quickly checked every room carefully just in case someone was waiting for them. Once Angelica entered the dining room, she spotted Mrs. Kirisaki lying on the ground motionless, causing her to go wide-eyed. "Ayase! Miyu!" she called out as she ran to Miyu's mother's side check for vitals. Angelica quickly placed two fingers on the left hand side of Miyu's Mother throat. She felt a pretty strong pulse. Afterwards, Angelica checked for breathing. After a few tense seconds, Angelica let out a sigh of relief as she heard breathing.

"Ethan said he knocked her out so he could take her powers as painlessly as possible..." Miyu

mumbled as she stood next to them. She immediately helped move her mother over to the couch.

"Well, your mother needs some rest Miyu. She doesn't seem to be hurt… but just to make sure no problems arise." Angelica stated calmly after they laid Miyu's mother on the couch. Ayase came out of a room a few seconds later after doing a perimeter check.

"It's good to hear that she's fine but I have a hunch that Ethan might come back to finish the job so I'll be staying here to provide security." Ayase commented took out her PDA phone.

"He'll have second thoughts about it." Miyu muttered, glancing over at Ayase.

"I'll be staying as well. Someone needs to monitor Miyu's Mother for the time being." Angelica

spoke up with a smile on her face.

"Do you think you can determine how he knocked her out?" Miyu asked as she turned her gaze to Angelica

"Most likely it was a quick strike to the back of the neck." Angelica replied.

"I didn't know they taught that kind of stuff to knights..." Miyu sighed.

"Actually, that is more of a Brawler technique." Ayase stated as she dialed her mother's number, which went through after a few seconds.

"Mom. Miyu's mother had just been attacked after I left her house." Ayase explained immediately.

After a few seconds, materialized a communication screen in front of each of the girls around her. Ayase's mother appeared on the screen in after a brief moment.

"Okay. I want you three to explain everything from the beginning." Ayase's mother stated sternly.

"I guess I should start then." Miyu mumbled before clearing her throat.

"I am all ears, Miyu-chan." Ayase's mother replied as she gave Miyu her full attention.

"Also, Ayase. There is something important I found out that directly concern you." she added. "But I'll tell you about that in a moment. Now, Miyu?"

"It started when I found out that Ethan got taken away in the middle of night."

"I see. Please continue, Miyu." Ayase's mother spoke as a mildly serious look appeared on her face. Miyu took a deep breath before continuing.

"I found out that it was that mysterious woman that's going around kidnapping people's doing.

Ayase and I visited the leftover battle scene to observe what we could and came up with the idea

that she would go after my mother next, so we hurried back to my house to warn her. After that,

I went back out for a little while and when I returned Ethan was at my house... about to use the

Gear on my mother. I didn't let him though. He teleported us to a different location and the Gear

made a pocket dimension for us to fight in. After a lot... I beat him but before I could take him in,

he was saved by the Gear and they escaped."

"Well... the important thing is that you are alright Miyu. Things are starting to get intense on both

cases that the TSAB has." Ayase's mother commented. "How is your mother, Miyu? Considering the circumstances, I am going to request two mages along with a security detail from Eglet Security Services be assigned to protect your family." Ayase's mother added.

"Seems like witness protection..." Miyu mumbled.

"Well, I am following TSAB protocol when I said that." Ayase's mother replied calmly.

"I know." Miyu nodded.

"Also, since Ayase and Angelica are there with you now, they should stay and provide protection

until I get the security detail arranged. In the meantime, I'll see what I can do to make sure your

case gets solved first." Ayase's mother stated.

"Whenever we feel like we have a lead on catching this woman we always end up at a dead

end... She's planned everything out so well..." Miyu cast her gaze to the ground.

"Well, I do have one lead. The signal from my tracking arrow is still transmitting and it's coming

from Hailey." Ayase spoke up calmly.

"Who is Hailey?" Ayase's mother asked.

"She is a classmate of ours. I have a bad hunch about her but I can't pinpoint what." Ayase

said, causing her mother to sigh.

"Well, Ayase... Your hunches are always dead on but I need more evidence before I can

investigate Hailey." Ayase's mother replied regaining her composure.

"No one really knows much about her." Miyu added.

"I see. Well... I want Ayase to secretly monitor Hailey for the time being. I know that

your "other side" has a way of revealing everything. Miyu, you could assist Ayase with this."

Ayase's mother replied calmly.

"I will." Miyu nodded. She had no idea what Ayase's mother meant by Ayase's "other side", but it probably wasn't important, so Miyu just shrugged it off.

"Ayase. I also have some information for you. The Sylphian Archer you helped catch is

part of a Sylphian Militia group called the Night Stalkers. They are actively searching for you.

They think that you are the last known member of the Sylphian Royal Family. Be prepared for a

lot of combat." Ayase's mother added.

"I see. Maybe I could use that to my advantage when I am interrogating the Sylphian Archer."

Ayase replied slyly.

"I got to go assist Fate with the investigation. Give me an update on your mother's condition,

Miyu." Ayase's mother replied.

"Roger." Miyu saluted before the call was terminated.

"Well… are you two hungry?" Ayase asked a few minutes after her mother ended the call.

"Mmm... now that I think about it, all that fighting did take a lot outta me..." Miyu nodded, gently placing her hand on her stomach.

"Well, I am going back to my house real quick to pick up my duffle bag which I use for

sleepovers as well as the groceries I put in the fridge." Ayase stated as she got up and walked

towards the front door.

"Alright." Miyu nodded again.

"Angelica, you should talk with Miyu for a bit." Ayase added before she walked out of the house

and closed the front door behind her.

"Well, I should actually introduce myself. As Ayase said, earlier my name is Angelica "Aria"

Scarlet." Angelica said with a wide smile on her face.

"Hello." Miyu stated with a smile.

"I am 17 years old and I have been friends with Ayase ever since we were young kids." Angelica

continued.

"You're a year older than me." Miyu acknowledged.

"Yep. Besides that, I work as a singer/songwriter/idol." Angelica finished.

"Well, that's basically it about me. How about you, Miyu?"

"Let's see... My full name is Miyu Mayuzumi. I'm 16. I go to St. Hilde Academy of Magic. I

recently became an A ranked mage... I'm a part of the TSAB... My favorite snacks are chocolate

donut holes... My favorite color is red... Am I saying too much?" Miyu felt her face flush.

"So you are the one I heard rumors about..." Angelica replied as she smiled at Miyu.

"What kind?" Miyu asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Most of the rumors I heard about you is mostly positive." Angelica replied with a smile.

"What are they about?" Miyu tilted her head to the side.

"The most common one I heard is that you are one tough cookie." Angelica replied while

giggling slightly.

"I am called 'The Iron Princess' for a reason." Miyu stated with confidence, puffing out her chest.

"That is a nice nickname. People call me "The Starlet" Angelica smiled.

"Cool." Miyu returned to her original position.

"Actually, The Starlet nickname is passed down through my Mom's side of the family whom was

renowned for their singing voice/music skills." Angelica explained cheerfully.

"Interesting."

"If I remember correctly, people call Ayase "The Goddess of the Wind." Angelica added.

"Her wind control is certainly godly." Miyu mumbled.

"Actually, that is an inherited trait of the Sylphian Race." Angelica replied.

"Even so..." Miyu wasn't afraid to admit that one of the reasons why she admired Ayase was because of her wind control. Miyu had some sort of affinity for manipulating wind, but she only could use it in the form of attacks or to boost her striking strength. She thought back to the time where Ayase saved her from one of the Sylphian Archer's arrows with a wind wall. Miyu wished she could do that too.

"Also, Ayase also has another side to her. I actually saw it when she saved me during a flood."

Angelica added calmly."Oh, and Ayase's mother is very strong in her own right. I've actually seen her fight when she was training Ayase."

"I want her to teach me things." Miyu stated with a serious tone.

"Well, you just need to ask her... but Ayase's mother has high expectations for everyone." Angelica replied calmly. "Ayase's mother is considered an Ancient Belkan Knight so be prepared for powerful attacks."

"I will be." Miyu smiled slightly. She knew that Ancient Belkan-types were tough fighters.

"What magic system do you use?" Angelica asked.

"Umm… Modern Belkan/Mid-Childan." Miyu replied after taking a second to think.

"Nice. My magic system is called the Starlet Fonic Aria." Angelica replied cheerfully.

"It uses songs/arias which allows me to use various effects." .

"I see." Miyu nodded.

"You have seen some of the effects I can use." Angelica smiled at Miyu.

"Yeah..." Miyu's voice trailed off as she thought back to the fight from earlier and its aftermath.

"Miyu? Are you alright? I sense some negative feelings within you." Angelica asked worriedly as

she tilted her head.

"I'm... just worried about Ethan." Miyu replied quietly.

"Really, now? I sense something deeper than that." Angelica replied jokingly with a smile.

"I dunno." she shrugged, suddenly remembering her chocolate donut holes were sitting on the counter. She immediately went over and took one out. "But these... these are my saviors!" The front door of Miyu's house opened a few seconds later and Ayase walked in carrying a whole bunch of groceries as well as a duffle bag and her long-sword slung over her shoulder. Miyu took one glance at the sword and a look of confusion crossed her face.

"I am back, guys." Ayase exclaimed cheerfully.

"That was fast!" Miyu acknowledged with a smile.

"I took a shortcut." Ayase explained as she laid the groceries on the kitchen table. Miyu noticed

that one of bags had a live long fish like thing in it. She had no idea what Ayase had thought of, but she thought that it'd be best to keep her mouth shut.

"Now I can't eat any more donut holes." Miyu pouted.

"Well, save them for the sleepover." Ayase replied cheerfully.

"Oh… but I already touched the one in my hand though... it would be bad to put it back." Miyu stated with a sly smirk.

"Angelica, can you help me cook Hitsumabushi?" Ayase requested as she glanced over at Angelica.

Angelica's eyes light up as soon as Ayase said that. She then happily got up and walked into the kitchen where Ayase was. Miyu popped the donut hole she was holding into her mouth and happily then closed the box. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

"Can you cook rice, Miyu?" Ayase asked as she took out a cutting board from the bag, then she took out one of the live eels from the grocery bag and used a small throwing knife to pin the head of the eel to the cutting board.

"I don't know how to." Miyu admitted shamefully.

"It is very simple. Just get some dried rice, soak it in some water, and place it in the rice cooker

or a pot. Also, in this case, I want to add some sushi vinegar to the water." Ayase informed.

"Got it." Miyu replied as she leaned back against the kitchen counter nearby.

"Oh, Miyu do you have a small grill or something?" Ayase asked as she finished

filleting all six of the eels.

"I think so." Miyu walked over to the walk in pantry and checked inside of a few boxes. "Found

it!"

"Okay. Let me take a look at it." Ayase replied. Miyu pulled it out of the box and set it on the

counter.

"That will be perfect for my purposes. I am going to have to take this outside since it might

smoke up the whole house." Ayase explained.

"Okay." Miyu nodded.

"Let's head outside to the backyard." Ayase directed as she carried the grill and all the ingredients. " Oh, and Angelica? Can you bring out the container of my secret Hitsumabushi sauce?" Angelica grabbed a medium sized clay container off of the counter before following Ayase outside. Miyu followed afterwards.

"I don't know if there are any drinks." Miyu spoke up.

"Don't worry about it." Ayase replied as she pierced through the eel meat fillet with six sharpened

thin metal sticks, then she based the fillets with the sauce before putting them on the hot grill to

cook. "Hmm… I wonder who Ethan and mysterious girl would attack next." she stated as she looked up at the beautiful night sky. "Anyways, Miyu. I want you to tell me more about Ethan."

"Like what?" Miyu asked curiously.

"Did he have some resentment against you?" Ayase questioned.

"I guess... he thinks that I'm stronger than him." Miyu shrugged.

"I see. What makes him think that?" Ayase asked.

"I don't know." Miyu shrugged. "He has some super strong attacks..."

"True. Ice magic is a pretty destructive magic type." Ayase commented. "My great uncle Chrono once iced everything within a mile with his Eternal Coffin."

"I honestly don't know Ethan's limits..." Miyu muttered quietly.

"You should be careful, Miyu. He might seek revenge against you." Ayase replied as she took

the perfectly roasted eel off the grill and dipped it into the sauce before putting it back on the

grill so that the sauce could caramelize.

"I'll be prepared." Miyu stated stubbornly.

"Well, the eel is perfectly roasted. There is a reason why I brought a lot of eel." Ayase

said calmly as she placed the roasted eel on a metal tray and tented them with tin foil.

"Ayase." Miyu spoke.

"Yes?" Ayase replied as she was about to enter the house.

"When do you think I could train with your mom?"

"Most likely, after she returns from assisting my grandma on her case." Ayase explained calmly.

"I wonder when that'll be..." Miyu uttered.

"In a couple days." Ayase replied as she motioned for Angelica and Miyu to come in.

"Alright." Miyu nodded as she entered the house.

"Well. Now you cut up part of the roasted eel and mix it into the sauce covered rice. Then,

you put another layer of rice on top and then put another layer of roasted eel on top." Ayase

explained calmly as she made four bowls of Hitsumabushi.

"I see." Miyu nodded. "I wonder when my mom will wake up."

"I bet you that she will wake up very soon, Miyu. Don't worry about it." Angelica gave Miyu a reassuring smile.

"Alright..." Miyu sighed softly as she glanced over at her mother.

"Dinner is ready." Ayase stated as she finished setting up the table. Miyu's mother woke

up a few seconds later. "How are you feeling, Mrs. Kirisaki?" Ayase asked calmly as Tsugumi walked into the dining room. "Angelica and I decided to stay here for now to protect you. I also made dinner for you as well."

"I don't know what happened..." Tsugumi stated quietly. "but thanks."

"Don't worry about it Mrs. Kirisaki. Please sit down and eat with us." Ayase smiled, indicating to the chairs around the table..

"Alright." Tsugumi nodded as she sat down.

"Enjoy." Ayase said with a sweet smile before sitting.

"Wait! Let's say the thing!" Miyu quickly interrupted.

"Alright." Ayase nodded.

"Itadakimasu!" the three girls exclaimed before beginning to eat.

"Wasn't Ethan here earlier?" Tsugumi asked Miyu after a few seconds.

"I-I don't remember..." Miyu mumbled. She did not want to tell her mother about what happened.

"Hm? I thought he was." Tsugumi sighed.

'_Why didn't you tell your mother the truth?' _Ayase asked Miyu telepathically.

'_I don't want to worry her too much...' _Miyu replied. _'Not right now at least...'_

'_You know that my mother will just tell her what happened right?'_ Ayase added,

'_Right...'_ Miyu let out a soft sigh.

'_We'll talk more about our next more afterwards.'_ Ayase finished.

"How was the food everyone?" Ayase asked after putting down her empty bowl.

"It was good." Miyu responded.

"I agree." Tsugumi agreed.

"Oh! Excuse me, Mrs. Kirisaki. Do you mind if Angelica and I stay here for tonight?" Ayase asked respectfully to Miyu's mother.

"I don't mind. You said you're here to protect me so it shouldn't be a problem." Tsugumi stated with a soft smile.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kirisaki." Ayase replied.

"Anytime."

"I suggest that you sleep early, Mrs. Kirisaki. You have had a long day." Ayase suggested calmly.

"I do feel a bit exhausted..." Tsugumi acknowledged.

"Don't worry about anything. We'll care of stuff." Ayase added reassuringly.

"Alright. I trust you girls will make sure everything stays in order?"

"We'll make everything is in order Mrs. Kirisaki." Ayase and Angelica answered simultaneously.

"Alright. I'll be heading to my room then." Tsugumi stated with a smile before heading upstairs.

'_At least she didn't remember much about the incident.' _Ayase said telepathically

to Miyu and Angelica.

"Let's go to the living and talk about stuff some more." Angelica suggested cheerfully.

"Alright." Miyu nodded as she jogged over to the couch, hopping over the back and she landed softly on the cushions.

"Well, Miyu. What do you want my mother to teach you?" Ayase asked as she sat down

before taking out her long sword and sharpening it.

"More close combat techniques." Miyu replied with a nod.

"I see. My mom can teach you that since she taught me hand to hand combat. She might also

teach you swordsmanship since you can't learn to counter a sword user unless you used one

yourself." Ayase stated.

"I don't really want to learn how to use a sword. I'm more of a heavy hitting type." Miyu admitted.

"Brute force isn't everything, Miyu. But my mother might teach you her Hurricane style fighting

art." Ayase replied.

"Hurricane style?" Miyu tilted her head to the side out of curiosity.

"The Hurricane Style is an Ancient Belkan fighting art that specializes in high speed high damage

attacks." Ayase explained.

"I see."

"Also, my mother knows an Ancient Belkan Royal Magic art called the Crimson Blaze-fire."

Ayase added.

"Hm..." Miyu scratched the back of her head.

"Do you remember the little red and black dragon that follows me around from time to time,

Miyu?" Ayase asked after looking at Miyu.

"Yeah, but I don't remember its name sadly."

"Her name is Feuerdrache. She also knows how to use the Crimson Blaze-fire. She usually uses her chibi form so she doesn't spook people." Ayase explained.

"Feuerdrache..." Miyu repeated.

"You don't really want to see her full size form." Ayase added hesitantly with a chuckle.

"I'm not scared easily." Miyu pouted.

"She nearly /roasted/ my Uncle Hikaru alive when my mom first met her." Ayase added with emphasis.

"I wonder how dragon summoners feel..." Miyu mumbled.

"Well, Feuerdrache is actually a Guardian Dragon so she doesn't require mana from my mother.

She is not technically speaking, a summon." Ayase explained.

"I see." Miyu nodded.

"I'll ask my mom to train you when she gets back." Ayase stated.

"Alright. Thanks." Miyu nodded.

"I can't wait until Saturday." Angelica said cheerfully..

"I can't wait to listen to one of your live concerts Angelica." Ayase stated with a smile. "You will enjoy Angelica's concert, Miyu." Ayase added while patting Miyu on the head.

"I bet I will." Miyu smiled.

"Well, Miyu. Since I have a sword with me, I can teach you some skills to counter sword users."

Ayase suggested with a bright smile.

"Alright."

"Okay, let's head over to a nearby park."

"Okay." Miyu nodded again.

**A Park Nearby the Mayuzumi Residence**

**9:00 PM**

"Okay, the first thing you need when fighting a sword user is to identify what type of sword they

are using." Ayase explained as she stood a couple meters away from Miyu.

"And what kind is that?" Miyu asked, pointing in the direction of the sword.

"You need to figure that out yourself. Watch how I move and how I attack that target over there."

Ayase replied as she pointed to a holographic target that appeared.

"Okay." Miyu blinked, keeping her eyes on Ayase. She took note of her stance and watched Ayase as she pushed herself towards the target. Her sword quickly pierced through the target, causing it to disintegrate into polygons.

"What type of blade am I using, Miyu?" Ayase asked as she walked over to Miyu.

"Umm..."

"Take your time to think about it." Ayase added with a smile.

"I don't know much about swords to be honest..." Miyu admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"My sword is considered a long sword but technically, my sword is actually an Assault Rapier. It allows me to slash as well as stab my opponents." Ayase explained. "It fits my high speed and high precision fighting style perfectly."

"I see." Miyu nodded, stretching.

"Here, Miyu. You should read this. This is a detailed guide on the various types of swords I wrote

and my mom helped me publish." Ayase said as she took out a book from her duffle bag.

"What made you want to make something like that?" Miyu raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Most likely because my mom allowed to take a detailed look at her claymore." Ayase explained

with a chuckle.

"I see." Miyu did not really see the connection, but she shrugged it off.

"The second thing I will teach you tonight is how to counter a sword strike." Ayase stated. " I'll set up a hologram who is armed with a Claymore. I want you to stand ten feet away." Ayase explained as a hologram armed with a claymore materialized. Miyu quickly headed to the designated location.

"Should I equip my Device?" Miyu asked, wrapping her left hand around her necklace.

"You should." Ayase replied.

"Alright." Miyu nodded as Panzerglaive materialized into its metal glove form on her left hand.

"Okay. Start off by transferring mana into your fists." Ayase directed. Miyu immediately began

focusing mana into her hands. "Tell me when you are ready." Ayase called out as she watched Miyu carefully.

"I am ready." Miyu stated confidently.

"Okay, the most common attack claymore users use is a two-handed downward slash. I want

you to wait until the blade is near you before you hit the blade with your mana infused fist. Two

things could happen, you could either knock the blade back which leaves your opponent wide open to a counterattack or you could shatter the blade entirely." Ayase explained.

"Right." Miyu nodded.

"Okay. Show me what you can do." Ayase stated as she programmed the AI to attack Miyu. Miyu watched the hologram rush towards her and she prepared herself. She waited for the hologram to start its attack, then she sidestepped and punched the blade hard, causing the hologram to go off balance, then she punched the hologram with her right fist.

"Not bad, Miyu. Continue practicing some more." Ayase noted with a smile.

"Right." Miyu continued to go through the technique a few times for awhile. After about an hour of practicing, Ayase interrupted her.

"Okay, Miyu. That's enough training for tonight." Ayase called out as she tossed a water bottle

to Miyu.

"Aww." Miyu pouted.

"You need to rest you know. I don't want you to pass out from exhaustion during a

mission." Ayase replied as Miyu sat down next to her.

"Fine." Miyu opened the water bottle and took a long swig from it.

"I know how your feel about pushing yourself but you next to relax from time to time or you'll end

up like Nanoha." Ayase explained as she took a sip from her own water bottle.

"I know I know." Miyu waved.

"You say that but your actions tell me a totally different story." Ayase replied with a

chuckle as she bonked Miyu on the head with her left fist.

"I like training." Miyu smiled softly as she laid back in the grass.

"Training is fun, but sometimes you need to go do things that most normal teenage girls do."

Ayase replied with a smile on her face.

"I guess I do..." Miyu glanced over at Ayase.

"One of these days, I am going to take you shopping with me. Well, let's head back to your place.

It's 10:00 PM." Ayase helped Miyu to her feet.

"Okay." Miyu nodded as the two began heading back to Miyu's place. Miyu never really had sleepovers as a child, so she was feeling very excited.

'_This night is going to be so much fun!' she thought to herself happily._


	10. Chapter 9 - The Sleepover

**July 24th**

**10:32PM**

**Cranagan**

**Mayuzumi Residence**

Once the two girls made it back to Miyu's house, Miyu immediately headed upstairs to find some clothes to change into. Miyu changed into a black tank top and an old pair of athletic shorts that reached to just above her knees. After changing, she headed downstairs, noticing that Ayase and Angelica were changed into their sleepwear as well. "So! What should we do first?" she asked, clasping her hands together.

"Well, sit down and we can talk about whatever." Angelica and Ayase replied simultaneously. Miyu took a seat nearby the other girls and smiled at them.

"Well, Miyu. What do you usually do when you aren't training or trying to wreck half the city?" Ayase asked with a smirk.

"I play games." Miyu replied.

"I see." Ayase replied with a hesitant chuckle.

"What about you guys? What do you do when you're not doing your normal things." Miyu asked, looking back and forward between the other two girls.

"I go parkouring in my spare time." Ayase replied with a smile which cause Angelica to giggle uncontrollably.

"Well, I go around helping out the poor people." Angelica replied with a slight smile after she finished giggling.

"I can see where the "angel" in your name comes from." Miyu grinned at Angelica.

"Yep. I was raised that way by my family." Angelica answered with a cheerful smile.

"All you need is a halo." Miyu nodded.

"That would be a little much." Angelica replied hesitantly before looking down at her music sheet.

"It would be cute."

"Angelica is already cute enough as she is." Ayase stated with a smile.

"I agree." Miyu nodded.

"Trust me, I already have enough attention from my male fans. I don't any more attention than I already have." Angelica added.

"Geez..." Miyu mumbled.

"I understand how you feel, Angelica." Ayase replied calmly as she ran her hand through her hair.

"People always think I'm going to hit them." Miyu stated plainly.

"I am not that surprised, Miyu." Ayase replied slyly.

"Do I really leave that kind of impression?" Miyu asked.

"Yep. You have a bad habit of trying to punch some sense into people instead of talking to them. Ayase added which caused Angelica to giggle slightly. "Plus, you can be a little bit childish at times."

"I see..." Miyu mumbled.

"Looks like Ayase hit the nail on the head yet again." Angelica commented as she finally put her pen down and smiled happily at her newly completed song.

"Well... I just gotta learn from my mistakes right?" Miyu smiled slightly.

"You just need to mature somewhat and think rationally before resorting to your fist." Ayase and Angelica replied simultaneously.

"Right." Miyu nodded.

"Well, on another note. What type of guys do you like?" Angelica asked with a sly smile.

"I honestly have no idea." Miyu shrugged her shoulders. She never really thought about relationships.

"Well, how about you Ayase?" Angelica asked Ayase.

"Well, I really want a nice guy as a boyfriend but any guys who wants to date me need to go though my mom." Ayase replied with giggle.

"That must be hard to do." Miyu mumbled.

"Well, I understand why my mom does that. She wants to make sure the guys are capable of taking care of me." Ayase replied.

"I can't imagine myself dating anyone." Miyu admitted with a soft sigh.

"Really, now. What about Ethan?" Angelica jabbed with a cheerful smile.

"That's..." Miyu's voice trailed off and she rubbed her face. "I dunno..."

"Looks like you aren't being honest to yourself. Miyu." Angelica added with a cheerful smile as Ayase shook her head.

"Maybe if he wasn't so depressed about stuff all the time..." Miyu thought back to the times where she used to always have playdates with Ethan as a kid. Back then, everything was all fine and dandy. They did not have to have to worry about anything. Now, she is worried about what will happen to him when the entire Gear of Judgement case is finished.

"If you want, Ayase and I can help you win his heart." Angelica suggested as she patted Miyu on the head.

"But won't he be arrested after this case is over?" Miyu glanced at Angelica with a sort of sad look in her eyes.

"That depends on the situation. But, I can handle that part when it comes to it." Ayase replied.

"I might've made it worse..." Miyu mumbled. "I really hurt his pride when we fought."

"Well, you couldn't really help it since he was very insecure to begin with." Ayase replied reassuringly.

"I have no idea where he gets that insecurity from." Miyu sighed, shaking her head.

"Probably because he is a C rank while you are a A rank mage." Ayase commented

"He hasn't taken an exam since he got C rank." Miyu responded.

"You only get called into ranking exams if the TSAB deems you worthy of taking it." Ayase explained.

"I wonder why he hasn't gotten one yet..." Miyu contemplated.

"I am not sure, myself." Ayase replied calmly.

"Speaking of Mage Rank, I am a SS+ Synthetic Mage." Angelica spoke cheerfully.

"Wow." Miyu looked surprised.

"What is your Mage Rank, Ayase?" Angelica asked calmly as she looked at Ayase.

"I'm wondering about that too." Miyu admitted.

"Well, at my full power I am a SSS rank mage. Even when I am holding back, I am a S ranked mage." Ayase explained calmly.

"Oh gosh…" Miyu breathed.

"I am a rather unique mage though since I don't use the Mid-Childan or Belkin system." Ayase added as she leaned back against the wall.

"I wonder if I can ever get to S rank." Miyu closed her eyes and smiled.

"You eventually get there." Ayase replied reassuringly.

"Maybe in a few years." Miyu beamed. "When I do I will be very very happy."

"You will make it. I know you can." Angelica added with a smile.

"Right now, my limit is that I can't use shooting spells while Panzerglaive is in Panzer form and when it's in Discharge form my punches are weaker." Miyu stated, thinking for a moment. "So if I can get past that…"

"Hmm. Interesting. If you want, I can have a friend look over your device and she can upgrade it for you." Ayase suggested.

"That'd be great." Miyu smiled.

"I'll call her right now." Ayase replied as she took out her PDA phone. Ayase quickly looked through her phonebook and found the number she want to call.

"Now that I think about it... I had a "limiter" this whole time. Hm." Miyu shrugged her shoulders and leaned back." After a while, Ayase's call made it through and Miyu remembered her donut holes on the counter. She immediately grabbed the box off of the counter and returned to the other girls. "Do you think it would be rude to ask her to put it on speaker phone?" Miyu whispered to Angelica after a few seconds.

"Actually, you should yet Ayase talk for now. The friend she is calling is a very busy merchant and she only stops by if Ayase request something." Angelica replied.

"Okay." Miyu nodded.

"Okay, my friend will pick us up tomorrow afternoon at school. Be prepared for some unconventional transportation." Ayase said after ending the call and putting her cellphone away.

"Define "unconventional"." Miyu raised an eyebrow.

"You will see when she stops by at school tomorrow afternoon." Ayase replied with a sly smile.

"I like surprises." Miyu smirked.

"You'll be in for a lot of surprises." Ayase replied.

"Great." Miyu smiled.

"What kind of modifications do you want my friend to make?" Ayase asked seriously.

"Something that'll allow me to punch hard and shoot. Oh, and something that lets Panzerglaive use a bit more mana for shooting spells. Maybe a targeting system too." Miyu stated with a nod.

"Have you considered using a Cartridge System?" Ayase asked.

"I already have one installed, but it's not very good." Miyu responded.

"Try cycling this blank cartridge through your system." Ayase replied as she took out a single cartridge from her duffle bag.

"The cartridge system is only compatible with the Discharge form, by the way." Miyu stated as she materialized Panzerglaive into its Discharge form and she held out her hand for the cartridge.

"I just want to see how well your cartridge system cycles." Ayase replied as she watched Miyu's device very carefully. Miyu loaded the cartridge into her device's cartridge system and let it run its course. Ayase noticed that the cartridge was cycling slower than normal. "Miyu. Your cartridge system is cycling slower than normal." Ayase stated.

"Do you think it's damaged? Wait... don't Intelligent Devices have auto-repair?" Miyu looked down at her Device.

"Not actually. The cycling system you have is designed for non-standard sized mana cartridges. And no, most Intelligent Devices don't have auto repair." Ayase replied.

"So what am I supposed to do about this?" Miyu questioned.

"Worst case scenario is we need to totally remove it from your device and switch it." Ayase stated seriously.

"Is that safe?" A worried look appeared in Miyu's eyes.

"Well, if you have a Device Meister. It is extremely safe." Ayase replied.

"My mom. But I don't want to bother her about it."

"The friend I called is a Device Meister. She assisted the TSAB when they were developing Windstrider for me." Ayase smiled.

"I guess I'll trust her with Panzerglaive…" Miyu mumbled, gently running her fingers along Panzerglaive's frame.

"Actually, she wont start working on your device right away. She usually does a scan and talks to the owner before she does anything." Ayase added.

"I see..." Miyu nodded, sighing softly.

"Well, you get a chance to talk to her tomorrow." Ayase replied.

"Alright." Miyu nodded.

"I should warn you that she has an unusual trait about her." Ayase added.

"Hm?" Miyu raised an eyebrow.

"You see when you meet her." Ayase answered with a snicker.

"Fine fine." Miyu smiled.

"Well, I need to have Windstrider upgraded somewhat." Ayase added as she reached towards the box of chocolate doughnut holes.

Miyu opened up the box for Ayase and undepleted Panzerglaive. "So... it's decided then?"

"Yep. We will meet my friend tomorrow after school. Angelica, are you going to be busy tomorrow afternoon?" Ayase asked Angelica with a smile.

"Nope, I have a day off from my job as an idol so I am free all day." Angelica replied with a smile.

"Then we're all good." Miyu grinned.

"My friend is very well connected person so she could get us anything we need. She also has a very friendly relationship with the TSAB." Ayase added as she took a bite out of a donut hole.

"What should we do here next? What else do girls do at sleepovers?" Miyu asked.

"Well, we could share stories about ourselves." Angelica suggested gleefully.

"Sounds good to me." Miyu nodded and smiled.

"I think Ayase should start first since she hasn't talked about herself a whole lot." Angelica suggested as she glanced at Ayase.

"Mhm. I'm all ears now. For once." Miyu joked.

"Well, what do you guys want me to talk about specifically?" Ayase asked in a nonchalant fashion as she rested her head against the wall.

"Anything really is fine..." Miyu mumbled, eating a donut hole.

"Well, let's start from the very beginning. As I mentioned before, I was an orphan." Ayase started after sighing slightly. "I was born in Maryland which is on eastern coast of the United States which is a country on Earth." Ayase continued. Miyu listened in silence.

"Well, I don't remember much about my birth parents since I was abandoned in front of a church and I lived in a orphanage for like a year until I was forced into the foster care system where I am bounced from house to house." Ayase added.

"Reminds me of Ethan sort of."

"Well, I was around 5 years old when I bumped into my mother. She was on her first official mission as an Enforcer. She was sent to investigate the disappearance of some of the United State's ballistic arsenal during transport to the disarmament facility the TSAB set up after the United States formed an alliance to the TSAB, a few years before." Ayase explained with a smile.

"She gave me this after our first meeting with a promise that she visit me at the orphanage every chance she get." Ayase added cheerfully as she took off a crimson red crystal dagger which she wore around her neck. It was a about six months after she completed her mission on Earth when she formally adopted me as her daughter. Afterwards, I moved to Mid-Childa." Ayase finally added.

"Ah." Miyu nodded.

"Anything else that you guys want to know about me?" Ayase asked calmly.

"Nothing that comes to my immediate mind."

"Well, I want to know more about your childhood Miyu," Ayase added.

"Alright."

"After that, we can have Angelica talk about herself." Ayase suggested.

"Alright, well… I'll start then." Miyu nodded. "I was born here in Cranagan sixteen years ago. Back then, my parents used to always go up to the Church to help out with things. One day when I was four, I met Ethan there. He was hiding in the bushes for some reason, but I spotted him easily. I went over to talk to him and things went on from there. We used to play..." her voice got quiet. "... we uh.. used to play knight and princess a lot together." Miyu cleared her throat and shook her head. "Anyways, that's how my friendship with Ethan started. I began reading books about magic a few weeks after meeting him since he told me that he was in training to become a real knight and he showed me some of his magic. I tried to do some stuff myself, but I had no idea how to manifest mana into a physical form. Of course, I got a little better over the years, but I couldn't do anything outside of channeling some of it into certain parts of my body. When my mom gave me Panzerglaive for my ninth birthday, she said my dad would start coaching me in magic soon. Once that all started, I suddenly got a lot better at it. Dad's really good at teaching. After a year of that, I started going to St. Hilde. Ethan was there, but a grade above me. We used to hang out a lot after school that first year. Stuff went on in school like normal, I eventually developed my mid-ranged attack and stuff... I earned my Iron Princess title... I graduated... Got recommended by my parents to join the TSAB. Yeah. That's pretty much it. But... I forgot which year I met you Ayase." Miyu looked over at Ayase.

"You bumped into me while I was training privately at a secluded part of the campus." Ayase replied with a smile.

"When was that again? My memory is terrible sometimes." Miyu scratched the back of her head and laughed softly.

"Well, let me say that you crashed into my Wind Barrier." Ayase replied with a giggle

"I remember that."

"So you met Ethan back then." Angelica commented while looking away and snickering.

"Yeah. He was my only friend until I started going to St. Hilde." Miyu nodded.

"Then you met Ayase at St. Hilde." Angelica replied with a smile. "Well, like you I was born on Mid-Childa. My mother is a Device Meister while my father is a world renowned doctor." Angelica started. "My family usually went to the Church to help out the poor people and during one of the visits I bumped into Ayase who was 5 years old at the time. Ayase was very clingy at that time and stayed very close to her mother. It was after some encouragement from her mother that she walked up and said hello." Angelica explained.

"Oh? Ayase? Shy? I can't even imagine that." Miyu giggled.

"You can't really blame her since she had barely been living on Mid-Childa for a couple weeks." Angelica explained calmly.

"It's still surprising to me."

"After a while, she opened up and became a friendly person. We spent a lot of time together." Angelica replied with a smile. "We both went to the same school together and that's when I saw a glance of Ayase's wind abilities." Angelica added. "I didn't think much of it at the time. Ayase and I have been classmates until I graduated St. Hilde Middle School."

"After that, Angelica received a call from her current manager who had been looking for some new talent. He had heard about Angelica's singing voice and he wanted to take her under his wing." Ayase added. "But, as I said earlier, Angelica was /extremely/ hesitant in taking the plunge."

"That is true. That really annoyed Ayase to the point that she lectured me for like 5 hours straight." Angelica replied with a giggle.

"Oh god." Miyu gasped fakely.

"Actually to be honest, Ayase was right. I really enjoyed singing in front of a lot of people and seeing the happy looks on their faces," Angelica admitted with a smile. "After thinking about it, I decided to become a singer/idol and I should thank Ayase for that. Also, Ayase gave this dark emerald hairpin." Angelica pointed to a platinum hairpin which had a few emerald embedded in it.

"It's pretty." Miyu smiled.

"In Sylphian culture, giving a person a dark emerald hairpin will protect them from harm as well give them luck in their pursuits." Ayase explained.

"Interesting." Miyu nodded.

"Ayase actually made it herself. I noticed that it also amplifies the effects of my music on people as well as my combat spells." Angelica commented after thinking for a bit.

"Cool."

"When is your birthday, Miyu." Ayase asked calmly.

"March 17th." Miyu replied. "Why?"

"Well. Since I was extremely busy during your last birthday, I might as well give you a late birthday present." Ayase said as she took out a dark green jewelry box from her duffle bag. Miyu's eyes immediately lit up and she held out her hands. "I made this for you, Miyu." Ayase said calmly as she gently placed the box into Miyu's hand. Miyu opened up the box to look at the inside. Inside the box was a platinum hairpin which was based off the Ancient Sylphian insignia. The leaf was made of a piece of a bright green emerald with darker emeralds making up the spiral of wind.

"Oh wow…" Miyu carefully took the hairpin out of the box. "It's amazing. Thank you."

"No problem. I also infused it with some of my mana so that you your wind based abilities gain a power boost. You should try it on, Miyu." Ayase added with a smile.

Miyu put the hairpin into her hair and looked around. "How does it look?"

"I looks nice on you, Miyu." Ayase said with as she took out a small mirror and handed it to Miyu. Miyu stared at her reflection in the mirror for awhile.

"What do you think, Miyu?" Ayase asked curiously with a smile.

"It's shiny..." Miyu replied quietly.

"It actually looks nice on you, Miyu." Angelica commented with a smile.

"T-Thank you." Miyu blushed slightly.

"Also, be careful when you use your wind skills since even I can't predict how much of a power boost they would get." Ayase explained.

"Can we test them tomorrow?"

"Sure. My friend owns a huge training facility." Ayase replied.

"Yay!" Miyu cheered.

"Well, I am glad that you like it." Ayase replied with a smile. Miyu hugged Ayase suddenly. Angelica couldn't help but giggle.

"Let's make this a group hug." Miyu suggested.

"Okay." Angelica replied as she joined into the hug.

"I'm happy that I have my friends here with me." Miyu smiled.

"Yep. We got your back anytime, Miyu." Ayase and Angelica replied simultaneously.

"Is there anything else we should do before we all go to bed?" Miyu asked.

"Not really." Ayase said calmly.

"We don't really have a guest room..." Miyu mumbled.

"Angelica and I both brought sleeping bags." Ayase explained calmly.

"Do you guys want to sleep on the floor in my room then?"

"Sure." Ayase and Angelica replied in a cheerful manner.

"Let's go." Miyu quickly headed up to her room.

"Sure." Ayase and Angelica responded in unison. The two girls followed Miyu to her room and set up their sleeping bags quickly. After everyone was all settled in, she turned off the light and got under her covers, quickly falling asleep with anticipation for the next morning.


	11. EXTRAChapter 2 - Punishment

**July 24th**

**10:30PM**

**Fraumeni Residence**

**Backyard**

Disappointment is never a good feeling. This is especially true when someone you trust with a very important task fails it. Hailey was standing in her backward, looking down at a rotating magic circle at her feet. She had a dark look on her face. After a few seconds, the form of a kneeling young man materialized on top of it.

"... You've summoned me?" the male asked quietly, gazing upwards at Hailey.

"Yes." Hailey nodded, "I trust that you've recovered from your battle?"

"...Somewhat." he replied. A sadistic smirk appeared on Hailey's face and she kicked him hard in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

"Second... No. Ethan... I hate being disappointed. I hope you know that~" Hailey hissed.

"Y-Yes..." Ethan groaned. Hailey pulled him up by his hair then held his face in her hands.

"Such a cute face but wasted potential... It's such a shame. You need to try harder. I don't need weaklings on my side. This is a time where only the strongest will survive. If you don't want to get eaten alive, get rid of that wimpiness~" Hailey stated, looking into his eyes.

"I-I understand... Mistress." Ethan replied shakily. Hailey let go of him and pushed him to the ground.

"Out of the other potential candidates that I found, you're the weakest so far. You're the only boy too... That's just depressing. Don't you want to represent your gender by becoming the strongest man in the world? Well... you are far from that level. You either need to get better or go and get rid of yourself so everything won't be plagued by your existence." she folded her arms across her chest. Hailey had no sympathy for the helpless. A frown crossed Ethan's face and he slowly got to his feet.

"What do you know? You don't know about my life... I had to go through a lot! Don't act like you know everything!" Ethan yelled. Hailey tsked and Nemesis appeared in her hand.

"Don't raise your voice at me you little pest!" Hailey whacked Ethan across the face with Nemesis, one of its sharp edges leaving a small cut under his eye. Ethan grunted as he fell onto his side, covering his face with his hand. "Quit writhing. Get up. Repent for your misconduct." Hailey prodded his arm with her foot.

Ethan sat up after a few seconds and took a deep breath. "...I'm sorry for yelling." he mumbled.

"Good. Now get out of my sight. I'm done with you for today." Hailey huffed as she turned her back to him. Ethan got to his feet and silently flew away into the night, still fuming because of what he was told. After he left, Hailey let out a soft sigh and headed into the house after returning Nemesis to its undeployed form. Before she could reach the stairs, Nemesis spoke to her.

"Master."

"Hm? What do you want Nemesis?" Hailey questioned.

"There has been a trace a foreign magical energy reading on your person for the past few days that has not faded." Nemesis replied.

"Why did you not alert me of this before?" Hailey asked.

"I did not believe it to be a potential threat at the time. I believe it is a tracking signal."

"...Get rid of it as soon as possible. We need no hindrances that will cause this operation to be eliminated." Hailey stated with a serious tone.

"Yes Master." Nemesis responded. It quickly purged Hailey's body of the foreign reading and flashed once it finished. "It is done."

"Thank you." Hailey nodded, heading up to her room. She immediately sat down on the bed and slipped off her silver bracelet. "Time to see what my two other candidates are up to." A section of the bracelet disappeared and an image of Ayase, Miyu, and another girl appeared inside the bracelet's center. She had no idea who the third girl was, but she just shrugged the thought off. Hailey listened in as they told stories of their pasts, which Hailey found rather intriguing. She listened to their conversation until they all headed up to bed. The segment of her bracelet returned soon afterward.

"So we have a Sylphian orphan, a hotheaded girl that's secretly in love with Ethan, and a teenage idol... That's certainly an interesting trio." Hailey stated with a smirk. "Tomorrow will mark the beginning of my new plan. I must pretend to befriend those girls."


End file.
